NAMPA, Idaho – The Nighthawks swept the Wildcat's in their weekend series. They finished the match up on March 15th with a double header. Both teams competed well but the NNU team was able to walk away with both wins, 7-5 in game one, and 3-2 in game two.
The Nighthawks now sit at 20-10 overall, and 9-3 in GNAC play.
Game One
In the top of the first, Central Washington struck first with two runs. Ponce delivered a double to bring in Manzardo, who got on base from an error early in the inning. Sharp followed by reaching base on a throwing error by the Nighthawks shortstop, scoring Ponce bringing the game to 2-0.
In the bottom of the first, Northwest Nazarene responded with two runs of their own. Nin Burns II hit a double to left field and was brought home on a single by Bryan Rojas. The Nighthawks then tied the game as Kaleb Karpstein singled to right center giving Rojas the chance to cross home.
The Wildcats retook the lead in the 3rd inning as Varner Jr scored a run on an RBI by Ponce. The Nighthawks' bats went quiet for a few innings and then found their spark again in the bottom of the 6th. Adrian Arechiga got the offense going with a bunt, taking first and then stealing second. Cole Calnon then brought him home with an RBI to tie the game 3-3. Cris Enriquez then sent a shot down the left side to bring home Calnon and give the Nighthawks their first lead.
CWU retook the lead in the 7th inning, scoring 2 runs on 3 hits. The Nighthawks, however, answered back in the bottom half, building up a new lead. Jason Bell singled to the left field line and was replaced by pinch runner Noah Palomares. Carter Walsh and Burns II followed with singles, scoring 2 runs to put NNU ahead 6-5. The Nighthawks' offense continued to fire on all cylinders, with Karpstein and Calnon each getting hits, allowing Burns II to score and pushing NNU's lead to 2 runs.
The Nighthawks defense put in the work in the last 2 innings of the game to secure their win. The closing pitcher, Wade Duncan dominated on the mound recording 3 strikeouts and no allowed runs. Shutting down the Wildcats offense with a double play to end the game, the Nighthawks took the victory, 7-5.
Game Two
In similar fashion to the first game of the day the teams both got on the board early. CWU started it off when Manzardo scored off of an RBI from Ponce. The Nighthawks responded in the bottom of the 1st with Bryan Rojas hitting a single to right field. He then crossed home on an RBI single from Kaleb Karpstein to put the score at 1-1.
The Wildcats took the lead in the 2nd when they were able to bring Sharp across the plate. However, the Nighthawks tied it up again in the bottom of the inning. Nin Burns II got on base with a single and then advanced to second when Rojas hit a shot towards the shortstop. Cris Enriquez then stepped up with 2 outs to bring him home with an RBI.
The teams stayed locked at 2-2 until the Nighthawks were able to get their offense alive in the 5th inning. Adrian Arechiga flied out to right field, but gave Burns II the chance to tag up and make it home taking the lead, 4-2.
With a sacrifice bunt by Jason Bell he was able to bring home Noah Palomares for a security run in the bottom of the 6th. The Nighthawks defense then put it away with a crucial strikeout by Joseph Ihli and a double play to end the game, 4-2.
With that the Nighthawks took the 4-2 victory.
Up Next
After a couple of weekends at home the Nighthawks will hit the road next week to compete against Saint Martin's. In a two day, four game series, the team will begin the competition on March 21st at 12:00 pm Pacific time. The games will be held on the SMU Baseball Field.
