SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Northwest Nazarene baseball team ended their season with a 5-3 loss to No. 2 seeded Point Loma on Friday afternoon.
The Nighthawks found themselves in a must win game after dropping the first game of the series. They started strong as
Kaleb Karpstein left the yard with a solo shot in the first to put NNU up 1-0 early. The Nighthawk lead didn't last long as Aidan Arriaga hit a lead off homer to tie it up at one.
With the score tied, both teams traded hits for a couple innings but were unable to break the stalemate until the bottom of the sixth.
Kaleb Karpstein hit his second homer of the game, seventh of the season.
Second-team All-American selection
Corbin Talley had another solid outing on the mound. After only giving up one run through six innings of work, he found himself with some traffic on the base paths. An error, single, and walk loaded the bases for PLNU before a pitching change was made.
Tyson Rutherford came in for Talley and struck out his only batter before they went to the bullpen again. This time
Hunter Bennett came in to pitch and also struck out his batter, escaping the bases loaded jam unscathed.
Northwest Nazarene took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning but a Mason Cook home run would tie it up late. The Sea Lions added two more runs to take a 4-2 lead heading to teh bottom of the eighth.
NNU kept fighting as
Tate Lewis and
Liam Herrera worked walks. With the tying run at first,
Carter Walsh moved the runners to second and third with a sac bunt and a wild pitch allowed
Tate Lewis to score from third and move Herrera up from second.
Gavin Brubaker walked with one out to corner the runners but an inning ending double-play would leave Herrera at third.
Point Loma added two insurance runs on a Jack Ryan home run and the Nighthawks were unable to come back.
Corbin Talley pitched 6.1 innings giving up one run on six hits with two strikeouts.
Tyson Rutherford and
Hunter Bennett eached pitched 0.1 innings and each recorded a strikeout without surrenduring any runs.
Wade Duncan (L, 1-2) pitched 0.2 innings giving up three runs on two hits with a walk while
Gavin Brubaker pitched 1.1 inning giving up two runs on three hits and two strikeouts.
Kaleb Karpstein led the team with two home runs an two RBIs.
NNU finishes the 2026 season with a 41-18 overall record. This is the second time NNU has eclipsed 40 wins in a season and the se
