NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene softball had another dominant day on the diamond on Saturday, racing past Central Washington 9-2 and Montana State Billings 9-1 to make it a perfect 4-0 home opening weekend on Halle Field.
The Nighthawks improve to 10-7 overall on the season. Despite being against GNAC opponents, none of the games this weekend count in the conference standings.
Game 1: NNU 9, CWU 2
Central scored first in the opener with a run in the top of the first inning, but NNU quickly tied things back up with an RBI double from
Emma Bumatay in the bottom of the frame.
The Nighthawks took the lead in the second inning when two runs came around to score on an error.
Charlotte Forniss then added to the advantage with a two-run homer in the third and
Kellcie Adams drove in run with a single to make it 6-1.
NNU's final three runs came on a
Clarissa Moreno two-RBI double and Forniss RBI double in the sixth.
Riley McGee earned the win in the circle for NNU, going 5.1 innings with two runs allowed on four hits.
Victoria Frias got the final five outs, striking out three of them.
Game 2: NNU 9, MSUB 1 (5 innings)
Emma Mulligan got things started early in game two, launching a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the first. Moreno added an RBI double and
Keana Bell brought home a run on an error to put NNU up 3-0.
Bell added another RBI with a single in the third. The Nighthawks really broke things open in the fourth, when they took advantage of two MSUB errors to score five runs. Three of the five runs came home on a bases-clearing double from Forniss.
Lauryn Bergevin also added an RBI to make it 9-0.
The Yellowjackets scored one run in the top of the fifth, but the eight-run margin was still good enough for the game to end via the run rule once the third out was made in the inning.
Miah Lusk tossed all five innings, allowing just the unearned run and three hits while striking out two.
Next Up
The Nighthawks will now open up GNAC play on the road next week, heading to Simon Fraser for four games from March 7-8.
