MONMOUTH, Ore. – Northwest Nazarene softball took care of business in their final road series of the season, taking both games of Saturday's doubleheader 10-2 and 8-5 to sweep the four-game set from Western Oregon.
The Nighthawks improve to 22-20 overall on the year and are back to .500 in GNAC play at 10-10 with just one series remaining in the regular season.
With the 4-0 weekend, NNU brought themselves back into the fourth and final postseason spot in the GNAC standings with two weeks left in the season. The Nighthawks have their bye next weekend before looking to secure the playoff berth the following weekend.
Game One: NNU 10, WOU 2
Charlotte Forniss got the scoring started in the top of the first inning with a sacrifice fly that scored
Emma Mulligan from third. Her next time up in the third inning, Forniss drilled a two-run homer to right center to extend the lead to 3-0.
NNU added three more in the fourth as Mulligan brought home two runs with a single and
Ava Clark scored Mulligan with a double. The Nighthawks' lead would grow to 8-0 in the fifth when Clark drove in a pair on a bases-loaded single.
Down to their last inning before the run-rule would have taken effect, Western Oregon was able to scrape together two runs in the bottom of the fifth to keep the game going. Before all was said and done, though, the Nighthawks brought their lead back up to eight with two runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from
Annie Swanson and RBI double from Mulligan.
Mulligan and Clark each had three hits for NNU and the duo was joined by Forniss in all registering three RBIs each.
Miah Lusk got the win, going four innings and allowing two runs on two hits.
Victoria Frias notched a three-inning save, allowing just one hit.
Game Two: NNU 8, WOU 5
After a scoreless first, the Nighthawks broke through for four runs in the second inning. Mulligan had a two-RBI double to open the scoring, followed by a sacrifice fly from Clark and an RBI double from
Clarissa Moreno.
The Wolves cut the lead in half in the third with a pair of runs, but NNU built their lead back up to four in the fourth as Moreno singled home a run and Forniss brought home another with an RBI groundout.
WOU had another response, cutting the margin to two again with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-2. Mulligan then drove in her sixth run of the day, belting a solo homer to left field in the top of the sixth. The Wolves scored a run in the bottom of the frame, but
Olivia Bailey then hit the first home run of her collegiate career to bring the score to 8-5 in the seventh.
Mulligan had an incredible day, notching three hits and three RBIs for the second straight game. Moreno also had two hits, two RBIs, and two walks in the win.
Forniss went 2.1 innings in the start, allowing two runs on five hits.
Lynsey Chiala pitched 1.2 innings of relief and allowed two runs, followed by two innings from Lusk and the final frame from Frias.
Up Next
The Nighthawks have their bye week next week before hosting Montana State Billings in the final series of the regular season from April 25-26.
