AZUSA, Calif. — Northwest Nazarene wrapped up their second series of its California road trip with a split against Azusa Pacific, dropping the opener 8–3 before responding with a strong 7–4 victory in game two at Cougar Stadium.
Game One: Azusa Pacific 8, Northwest Nazarene 3
(Rochelle, L, 0–1)
The Nighthawks struck first in the opener, manufacturing a run in the top of the first inning. Parker Sobiesiak reached base and eventually came around to score on a double play off the bat of Caleb Boswell, giving NNU an early 1–0 lead.
Azusa Pacific answered immediately, plating three runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by a two-run home run from J. Hayes. The Cougars added another run in the second to extend their advantage to 4–1.
Northwest Nazarene chipped away in the middle innings. Adrian Arechiga launched a solo home run to left field in the fourth, his first of the season, to make it 4–2. In the fifth, Kaleb Karpstein worked a bases-loaded walk to bring in Liam Herrera and pull the Nighthawks within one.
Grayden Lucas held down the fort after coming in to pitch in the second inning as he held the Cougars to one hit and got two punchouts in 2.1 innings. Lucas gave up zero runs before Brayden Schaefer came in to pitch in the fifth inning.
Azusa Pacific regained momentum in the bottom half of the fifth with a two-run homer from D. Orozco then put the game away in the sixth with a two-run double from N. Lane.
Jakob Rochelle took the loss for NNU, allowing four runs in 1.2 innings. Grayden Lucas provided 2.1 scoreless innings in relief, while Hayden Crews closed the day with two shutout frames.
Arechiga led the Nighthawks offensively, going 2-for-4 with a double and home run, while Herrera and Jake Mestas each added a hit.
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Game Two: Northwest Nazarene 7, Azusa Pacific 4
(Bennett, W, 2–0 | Duncan, S, 1)
Northwest Nazarene wasted no time bouncing back in game two, taking advantage of Cougar miscues early. Gavin Brubaker scored in the first inning on an Azusa Pacific error to give the Nighthawks a 1–0 lead.
Tate Lewis provided the spark in the second inning, blasting a solo home run to left-center to double the lead. The Nighthawks broke the game open in the third with a four-run inning. Coleman Parry ripped a two-run double into the right-center gap before Lewis followed with his second home run of the game, a two-run shot to left field, pushing the score to 6–0.
Landen Parker was dominant on the mound to start, tossing three scoreless innings while allowing no hits and striking out five. Hunter Bennett earned the win with a clean fourth inning, improving to 2–0 on the season.
Azusa Pacific mounted a comeback attempt in the sixth, scoring four runs with the help of a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. Wade Duncan shut the door in the seventh, working around a walk to earn his first save of the year.
The Nighthawks added an insurance run in the seventh as Sobiesiak scored on a passed ball.
Lewis finished the game 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs. Brubaker went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Parry added two RBIs of his own.
Northwest Nazarene concludes the series going 1-1 in this two game series and moves to a 3-3 record overall and continues its California trip this weekend as they face off in a four game series against Cal State Los Angeles. First game will be played on Thursday night before a double header Friday, and finally rounding off the series on Saturday.
Nighthawks of the day:
Tate Lewis: 2-3, 2HR, 3RBIs
Grayden Lucas: 2.1 Ip, 0 ER, 2 SO, 1 H, 2 Bb
Hunter Bennett (2-0): 1.0 Ip, 0 ER, SO, Win
