Northwest Nazarene University Athletics

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks dropped their first game of their 2026 post season run with a 5-3 decision to Point Loma this afternoon.

After both teams went down in order to start the game, NNU struck first in the top of the second. After Kyle Becker started his nice day with a single to center field, he stole second and Adrian Arechiga took first on catcher's interference. With two on and no outs, Caleb Boswell laid down a sac bunt to move two runners into scoring position. Jake Mestas hit a deep sac fly that allowed Becker to tag from third and score with out a throw. 

The Nighthawks didn't hold on to the one-run lead long as Point Loma's Hank Smith homered to right field to even the score. NNU was unable to capitalize on a Liam Herrera lead off walk in the top of the thing and Point Loma added two more runs in the bottom half of the frame. Owen May and Matt Bernath singled to put two runners on and a balk on Dillon Eden advanced both runners to second and third. With runners on second and third, Tristan Moore hit a sharp ground ball to first and was picked by Kaleb Karpstein who took the easy out at first as the Sea Lions took the lead. Josiah Rodriguez then singled to drive in Bernath from third to take a 3-1 lead. 

It felt as if the game would be back and forth all day as Kyle Becker recorded his second base hit in as many at bats before Adrian Arechiga tied it up with a two-run shot to right center.

Once again, Point Loma answered back as Jack Ryan took Eden deep to take a 4-3 lead, which proved to be the game winning run. It seemed as if the Nighthawks were in a great position to at least tie it up and Liam Herrera based on balls for the second time but a strike out, line out, and pop out would end the inning. 

A an error on Gavin Brubaker put the lead off man on for PLNU and a one-out walk put moved him to second before Hank Smith single loaded teh bases, still without any outs. Myles Anderson then came into pitch but walked the first batter he faced to score a run as the Sea Lions took a 5-3 lead.

NNU was unable to find any late game heroes despite having the tying run at first in the top of the eighth. Myles Anderson was the top arm for the Nighthawks, pitching 3.2 innings while only giving up one hit with two strikeouts. 

Dillon Eden (L, 8-2) suffered his second loss of the year, pitching 3.1 innings with four runs on seven hits. Grayden Lucas relieved Eden and pitched 1.0 inning, giving up one hit and one run but got a crucial ground ball that resulted in a double play.  

Kyle Becker went 2-for-3 with a walk to lead NNU in hits while Adrian Arechiga had the lone extra-base with his two-run homer. Arechica also led the Nighthawks with two RBIs. 

NNU will face Point Loma in an elimination game tomorrow at noon. They will look to force the "if necessary" game on Saturday to keep their post season run alive. Read Full Article