ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene softball achieved a dominant sweep of Saturday's doubleheader at Central Washington, earning the 3-1 series win after victories of 6-1 and 16-1.
The Nighthawks improve to 14-11 overall and 4-4 in GNAC play this season.
Game One: NNU 6, CWU 1
One swing provided all the runs that the Nighthawks would need in the opener, as
Charlotte Forniss blasted a grand slam in the top of the third inning to put NNU up 4-0.
NNU added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh with
Clarissa Moreno notching an RBI groundout and Forniss and RBI single.
Miah Lusk was strong in the start, allowing just one run in the fourth through 4.1 innings of work.
Riley McGee went the final 2.2 frames without allowing a hit.
Forniss was 2-5 with five RBIs to lead the offense, while
Ava Clark also registered two hits.
Game Two:
Central got on the board first in the final game of the series with a run in the bottom of the opening frame.
It took until the third for NNU to break through, but they did in a big way with six runs.
Emma Mulligan started it off with an RBI double followed by an RBI single from Clark. Moreno and Forniss then followed with NNU's second and third RBI doubles of the inning. A couple batters later,
Keana Bell delivered yet another run-scoring double, this time a two-RBI knock to put the Nighthawks up 6-1.
NNU added two more in the fourth on RBI singles from Clark and Forniss, and then really broke the game wide open in the fifth with eight runs. Forniss had another two RBIs in the fifth and
Emilie Hernandez capped the scoring off with a grand slam.
Hernandez and Forniss each had four RBIs, with Forniss going 4-4 in the nightcap. Mulligan also went 3-4 with two runs scored.
Forniss did it all on Saturday, as in addition to her nine total RBIs on the day she also threw all five innings in the circle in the final game. She allowed just one run on three hits while striking out two.
Up Next
The Nighthawks will return home for a four-game series at Halle Field next week, taking on the Saint Martin's Saints from March 21-22.
