CARY, N.C. – Northwest Nazarene baseball suffered their first defeat at the Division II College World Series on Wednesday night, falling to top-ranked Tampa 13-5.
With both NNU and Tampa now having one loss, it forces a winner-take-all matchup between the Nighthawks and Spartans on Thursday, with the winning team advancing to the final championships best-of-three series.
The Nighthawks are now 46-15 overall this season and 2-1 in their trip to Cary.
NNU started off very well in the game, with
Landen Parker working around a two-out walk to record a scoreless top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, the Nighthawks scored three runs on six hits, with
Cole Calnon,
Cris Enriquez, and
Carter Walsh all bringing home runs with base hits.
Tampa managed a run in the top of the second, but that was erased in the bottom of the frame when
Nin Burns II led off with a solo homer to left, his team-leading 15
th of the season, to make it 4-1.
The Spartans cut the lead to two with a run in the third, and then it was the fourth inning that spelled trouble for the Nighthawks. Tampa tallied four runs on four hits, two hit-by-pitches, and a walk to grab a 6-4 lead.
Tampa would put up another four-spot in the sixth to extend their lead to 10-4. Both teams scored one run in the seventh, with NNU's coming on an Enriquez single to bring home
Kaleb Karpstein. The Spartans added two more in the ninth to get to the 13-5 final.
Parker went 3.2 innings in the start, allowing six runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
Joseph Ihli went 1.1 innings, and then
Adam Brooks,
Josh Bishopp,
Dillon Eden, and Enriquez all threw one inning apiece. It was Enriquez's first appearance on the mound this season, with the regular designated hitter allowing one run and registering a strikeout.
Enriquez, Burns, and
Casey Wayne all had two hits for the Nighthawks.
