Irvine, Calif. - Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks started off their season with a split on their first day of play against the Golden Eagles. Firing on all cylinders as they win the first game 13-5 with a dominant 9 innings to start the day. However in game two the offense struggled to get going as they lost the shortened second game three runs to five.
GAME ONE:
NNU took care of business in game one as they went on to capitalize on a big 3rd inning and win 13-5. Dillon Eden took the hill to start the game for the Nighthawks, throwing a solid 5 innings of work. Eden was able to minimize early traffic and keep Concordia off the board until his last inning of work.
Nighthawks offense got started early as they got on the board in the second inning as Jake Mestas was able to hit a sacrifice fly after a sac bunt from Carson Burns moved Kyle Becker to third for Mestas.
The third inning however is when the Nighthawks came alive. NNU went on to score six runs off of five hits, two walks, and an error from the Golden Eagles to make it a 7-0 game after three innings played. Kaleb Karpstein and Becker both got RBI base hits. Carson Burns and Carter Walsh followed suit with a pair of 2RBI hits.
Scoring one in the fourth, and two in the fifth grew the lead to 8-0 going into the bottom of the fifth where the Golden Eagles were able to get a few runs across. The designated hitter Madison was able to send one out against Eden followed by an RBI single to get 3 runs across before Eden was able to get the final batter of the inning to ground out.
The rest of the runs for game one came in the 7th inning, as NNU was able to get three runs on three hits. Brayden Schaefer would come in to relieve Landen Parker in the 7th after a quick 6th
inning of work from Parker, and CUI would get two unearned runs off of two hits and two errors from the Nighthawk defense in the 7th.
Kaden Mullins and Grayden Lucas would each throw a clean inning allowing no more runs to come across. Dillon Eden would get the win in his first start of the year as the Nighthawks took game one 13-5.
Game Two:
The Nighthawks however, were not able to pick up where they left off as game two went underway, failing to score until the 6th inning of this 7 inning matchup.
A.J. Hendricks would take the hill for the Nighthawks in game two, starting off with two smooth innings of work before walking a batter and giving up a single, before Madison went and got his second home run of the day, giving the Golden Eagles a three run lead after three innings of play.
Hayden Crews came in to relieve A.J in the 4th inning, pitching a clean inning, only allowing one hit. Hunter Mahaffey would come in to pitch in the 5th, giving up one run on one hit. And to wrap it all for the pitching staff, Hunter Bennett came in to pitch the bottom of the 6th, giving up one unearned run on one hit and one error.
The offense woke up in the 6th for the nighthawks, but it was too little too late, as they were only able to get three runs across in the seven inning game. Adrian Arechiga got a 2RBI knock in the 7th and Max Paterson with an RBI in the 6th, before ultimately falling 3-5
The Nighthawks start the season off with one win and one loss, as they get ready to go to battle against the Golden Eagles again tomorrow with another double header in Irvine California before a two game series on Tuesday vs Azusa Pacific.
Nighthawk Player Highlights:
Dillon Eden (1-0) : 5.0 IP, 6 Ks, 1 BB, 3 ER, Win
Gavin Brubaker: 5-7, 2 RBIs, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SB
Kaleb Karpstein: 4-9 (2B), 2 RBIs, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SB
