BURNABY, B.C. – Northwest Nazarene softball earned a 5-3 win in game two at Simon Fraser to salvage a split with the Red Leafs after falling 8-4 in game one on Thursday.
The Nighthawks move to 11-8 on the year and 1-1 in the GNAC after the first two conference games.
Game 1: SFU 8, NNU 4
NNU struck first in the opener as
Clarissa Moreno notched an RBI single and later scored on a groundout by
Charlotte Forniss to make it 2-0 in the top of the first.
Ava Clark added to NNU's lead in the third with an RBI triple.
Simon Fraser responded with two runs in the bottom of the third and followed that with three in the fourth to take a 5-3 lead.
The Nighthawks cut the deficit in half in the top of the fifth as
Emma Mulligan scored on an error, but the Red Leafs added three insurance runs in the sixth to take the 8-4 lead that would turn out to be the final.
Clark was 3-3 in the game with an RBI and a walk, reaching base in all four plate appearances. Moreno also had a pair of hits.
Miah Lusk started for NNU and went 3.1 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on just four hits while striking out five.
Lynsey Chiala tossed two innings in relief and
Victoria Frias recorded the final two outs in the circle.
Game 2: NNU 5, SFU 3
It was the home Red Leafs that scored first in game two as an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first put SFU on the board. It took just one swing to tie the game back up, though, as
Kellcie Adams drilled the first home run of her collegiate career in the top of the third.
Forniss hit a solo homer of her own in the fourth to give NNU the lead, but SFU responded in the bottom of the frame to tie things back up at 2-2.
NNU would then manage a third solo homer, as this time Moreno deposited a drive over the fence in the top of the sixth to put the Nighthawks back on top 3-2. Mulligan then added two runs on a single in the seventh to make it 5-2.
SFU scored once in the bottom of the seventh, but the Red Leafs left the bases loaded as NNU held on for the win.
Riley McGee got the win after going 4.1 innings, allowing two runs and striking out two. Forniss pitched two innings of relief with one run allowed on three hits, before Lusk came in to get the final two outs and record her fourth save of the season.
Moreno, Forniss, and Adams all had two hits in the nightcap.
Next Up
The Nighthawks and Red Leafs will play two more tomorrow, March 7, with game one of the doubleheader starting at noon Pacific time.
