NAMPA, ID. - The Nighthawks had a phenomenal home opener and were able to sweep the Wolves in the first series of GNAC play in 2026. The NNU offense outscored Western Oregon with a total of 49 runs to 20 runs over the course of the four game series.
Game One: Win 11-2 (H. Bennett 2-0)
Nighthawks offense continued to be on fire here on the home field as they would lead the way to huge wins as the pitching staff followed suit and did their part and limited the Wolves to only four runs today over the course of 16 innings.
In game one the NNU offense showed poise as they executed the little things right, hitting balls into the gaps and working station to station on their way to 11 runs. The Nighthawks would go on to hit four doubles as
Coleman Parry led the way with two as he hit three of five, scoring two runs and adding two RBIs to the stat line as well.
The offense would score seven runs off of the starter for the wolves and continue to add on one here and one there as the Nighthawks would get into the bullpen in the fifth inning as they would put up five of their runs on the scoreboard in the fifth.
Starting on the bump for the Nighthawks was
Tyler Stolfich who would have a solid outing, going 4.1 innings in his first start, only giving up two runs on six hits, as he would strike out four batters, only walking one.
With one out in the fifth, a lefty bat would come to the plate and the Nighthawks head coach
Joe Schaefer and pitching coach
Matt Hollod would turn to the lefty
Hunter Bennett to get the left on left match up.
Hunter Bennett would strike out the lefty before the coaches would choose to go back to a righty for the rest of the game, turning to
Hayden Crews.
Crews would throw the last out in the fifth inning, and go through the eighth as he would only give up three hits and no walks before turning the ball over to
AJ Hendrickson for the ninth who would give up one hit before getting the final out, securing the 11-2 victory in game one.
Game 2: Win 13-2 (H. Bennett 3-0)
The long ball would come back into play for the Nighthawks in game two of Saturday's double header, as the Nighthawks would hit four separate home runs, leading to 11 of the 13 total runs scored by the NNU offense.
After two scoreless innings, the Wolves would be able to get on the board first with two runs on a double in the top half of the third inning, however this lead would not last long as
Kaleb Karpstein would get his first homerun of the season as he would send one to left field for a 3 run homer.
Those two runs would be the only runs scored in game two for WOU as
Jakob Rochelle would throw 3.1 innings, giving up two runs as he struck out six batters in those innings of work.
Hunter Bennett would come in to relieve for the second time today, as he would face three batters in this game, allowing one hit and striking out one in the final two thirds of the fourth.
Hunter Mahaffey,
Kyle Becker, and
Wade Duncan would combine for one hit allowed, and four strikeouts, allowing zero runs to score through their combined three innings of work as they kept the Wolves offense at bay, allowing the offense to smash their way to victory.
The NNU offense would score in every inning after the second inning as Karpstein's three run shot in the third was followed by a two run shot from
Adrian Arechiga and a three run homer off the bat off the bat of
Parker Sobiesiak in the fourth inning, scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Jake Mestas would join in on the fun as Mestas would go and get a three run homer of his own in the bottom of the sixth inning to wrap up the scoring for the nighthawks before closer Wade
Duncan would finish the game off in the top of the seventh to secure the Nighthawks first GNAC series win and sweep of the year.
The Nighthawks get a bye week from GNAC play but will play another non-conference series as Colorado State Pueblo comes to town to face the Nighthawks next weekend starting on Thursday at 3pm.
NNU Baseball advances to 11-7 on the year and a perfect 4-0 in conference play as they look to repeat once again as GNAC regular season and tournament champs!
Nighthawks of the Day:
Hunter Bennett (3-0): 1.0 Ip, 2 SO, H, 2 Wins
Parker Sobiesiak: 3-7, HR, 6 RBIs, 2 R, 2B
Liam Herrera: 2-3, 2 RBIs, 2 R, 3 BB, 2B
Jake Mestas: 1-1, HR, 3 RBIs, R
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