KENTFIELD, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene baseball continued their hot start to the 2025 season with a convincing 12-3 victory over Sonoma State on Monday afternoon.
With the win, the Nighthawks improve to 5-0 on the year and have outscored opponents 37-8 through those five games.
Bryan Rojas got things started right away with a solo homer in the top of the first inning. Later in the frame,
Cris Enriquez singled home
Nin Burns II to give NNU a 2-0 lead.
The Nighthawks added two more in the second inning when
Drew Deal launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that also scored
Kaleb Karpstein. A third NNU homer came in the third inning, as
Adrian Arechiga joined in on the fun and extended the lead to 5-0.
After being blanked by NNU pitching over the first five innings, Sonoma State finally got on the board with a solo homer in the sixth. The Nighthawks immediately responded in the top of the seventh, though, with Rojas scoring on a fielder's choice and Arechiga driving in Burns with a sacrifice fly.
The Seawolves got two more in the bottom of the seventh, but NNU then responded with a five-spot in the top of the eighth to put the game away for good. Rojas had an RBI single and two batters later, Enriquez blasted a grand slam to bring the score to the 12-3 final.
Rojas, Enriquez, and Deal all had three hits for the Nighthawks, with Enriquez notching five RBIs.
The Nighthawks used a bullpen day on the mound with seven pitchers making an appearance. Among those,
Dillon Eden made an impressive showing, entering with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth and proceeding to strike out the side and keep Sonoma off the scoreboard.
Landen Parker and
Wade Duncan were also dominant in relief, combining for 2.2 innings and seven strikeouts, with Duncan striking out the side in order in the ninth.
NNU is now scheduled to play two more against Sonoma on Wednesday after being pushed back a day due to rain, with first pitch of game one of the doubleheader set for 11:00 a.m. Pacific.
