Monmouth, Ore. – NNU took the first two games of a four game series earlier today against Western Oregon. After a close game one, the Nighthawks were able to control game two, in large part because of a complete game thrown by Corbin Talley. 

Game One: 6-5 (T. Rutherford 3-0) 

The day started with a back and forth battle as the Nighthawks weren't able to get out front and hold the lead before taking a one run lead in the eighth inning and holding it behind set-up pitcher Tyson Rutherford, who would later be deemed as the winning pitcher, and another good outing from the closer Wade Duncan. 

The Nighthawks would get on the board first with an RBI groundout by Kaleb Karpstein, followed by an RBI single through the left side to score a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. The Wolves were able to answer right back in the bottom half as a pair of their own runs would come in as they took advantage of an error by the right fielder to tie the game up. 

Errors would continue to affect the outcome of this game as an error on a bunt single would allow the Nighthawks to get another run in and have runners at second and third for the top of the lineup and Carter Walsh would come up big for the Nighthawks as he would drive in two more runs in the top of the fourth to allow NNU to boost their lead to three runs. 

The Nighthawks went with more of a bullpen game today, deciding to try a different order to things here this weekend, as A.J. Hendrickson would start on the bump for only the fourth time this year as he would go two full innings, only allowing two hits and striking out two batters to get things going for this NNU pitching staff. 

Jakob Rochelle would come in to throw in the third inning, getting four full innings to his name, only giving up three hits and two runs, however both of those being unearned, while striking out two of 

his own on his way to a solid four innings of work. Hawk Hill would come in to throw in relief for the seventh inning, but wouldn't have the same success as the first two on the bump, as Hill would only be able to get one out, giving up three hits and three runs; only one of which being earned. 

This would force pitching coach Matt Hollod and head coach Joe Schaefer to go to the pen and bring in the setup man in Tyson Rutherford to come in with a runner on third and only one out in a slim one run lead for the Nighthawks. 

The first batter that Rutherfod would face would be able to take a pitch in the air to the outfield to score the runner from third and tie the game before Tyson would get the third out on a groundout to short. 

But in the top of the eighth inning, the Nighthawk offense would do what they do best and respond to runs being scored by their opponents, and would get their one run lead back in the top half of the eighth. A one out bunt single from Carter Walsh followed by an error on a pickoff attempt would put Walsh on second once again for Karpstein and Kaleb would come through once again, driving in Carter from second with another single. 

That would be it for the Western Oregon offense, as they would be unable to get anymore hits against the Nighthawks in crunch time, as Tyson Rutherford would come back out for the eighth and shut them down before closer Wade Duncan would come in and finish the game and get his eighth save of the season. 

Game Two: 4-0 (C. Talley 7-0) 

Game two would be highlighted by another amazing performance from Corbin Talley. Talley would go and get his second complete game shutout of the season, as he would throw the complete seven innings of this game two matchup. 

Corbin would only allow six hits and two walks while striking out eight Wolves batters on his way to the win. Talley would use efficient pitch selection and excellent control, keeping his pitch count low enough to go back out in the bottom of the seventh, where he would retire the side in order to give the Nighthawks their 15th conference win of the season. 

Even though it took the NNU offense a few innings to get going, they were able to come through for their starter, as Kaleb Karpstein would hit yet another RBI single to get the Nighthawks on the board in the fifth inning. 

Elliot Brown would get a high stakes pinch hit opportunity in the top half of the sixth inning with runners on second and third base with one out and would hit a hard single through the left side to put the Nighthawks up three runs to none. 

The Nighthawks would go on to score one more in the sixth as a single from Jake Mestas followed by a throwing error by the catcher who was trying to get Mestas at second allowed Brown to score from third. 

The Nighthawks would come out of day one with two wins against the wolves and will play for the series and season sweep against Western Oregon tomorrow as these two teams will play another double header tomorrow, starting at 11am Pacific Time. 

NNU Baseball moves on to an impressive 25-11 season record with a dominant 15-3 record in GNAC conference play here two games past the halfway mark of GNAC regular season play. 

Nighthawks of the Day 

Corbin Talley: 7.0 Ip, 8 SO, 0 Runs, 6 H, Win 

Carter Walsh: 6-7, 2 R, 2 RBIs, 4 SB, BB, HBP 

Adrian Arechiga: 3-8, RBI, 3 SB, BB