NAMPA, Idaho - The Northwest Nazarene baseball team survived two elimination games against Western Oregon to claim their third straight GNAC Tournament Championship.
Game One: NNU 18, WOU 4
NNU was the visitor on the scoreboard in the first game of the day as they faced Western Oregon in a must win game to force a winner take all championship. The Nighthawks got right to business scoring the first seven runs of the game.
Adrian Arechiga was a late defensive scratch and served the team's designated hitter and delivered in the top of the second with a two-run homer, scoring
Kyle Becker.
With a 2-0 lead, NNU added two more as
Carter Walsh led off the inning with a double and
Gavin Brubaker doubled down the left field line to score Walsh.
Kaleb Karpstein singled up the middle to score Brubaker from second to give NNU a 4-0 lead.
Dillon Eden was dealing through three, only giving up three hits while the Nighthawks continued to produce offensively.
Caleb Boswell led off the inning with a single and was able to take third on a
Carson Burns one-out single.
Carter Walsh had runners on the corners and reached on a fielders choice that scored Boswell from third and
Gavin Brubaker launched a two-run homer to center field to go up 7-0.
WOU added a run in the fourth before
Caleb Boswell walked in the sixth and
Carter Walsh doubled to score Boswell. Another WOU run came across before a three-run seventh inning.
Adrian Arechiga singled to score
Cooper Nixon, Caelb Boswell doubled to score Arechiga and
Jake Mestas reached on an error to score Boswell.
Four runs came in for the eighth inning as Brubaker homered for the second time.
Kyle Becker and
Cooper Nixon hit back-to-back home runs to put NNU up 15-2. Three more runs scored for the Nighthawks in the ninth to take a commanding 18-2 lead. WOU would score two in the bottom of the ninth but would ultimately fall.
Game Two: WOU 6, NNU 7
Another great start for the Nighthawks saw them put up four runs in the first two innings. A bad throw down to second on a stolen base allowed
Gavin Brubaker to score and
Kaleb Karpstein to take third.
Adrian Arechiga capitalized on the throwing error and singled to second, scoring Karpstein. NNU's
Coleman Parry legged out an infield single in the second inning and took third on a
Jake Mestas single. A ground out advanced both runners and
Gavin Brubaker singled through th eright side scoring both Parry and Mestas.
That would be where the offensive success would stall for the Nighthawks. Redshirt Sophomore, Hunter Lutman, came out of the pen and was very effective. NNU would manage to get a few hits but were never able to string them together. WOU slowly gained momentum, scoring three runs in two innings to make it a one-run game.
As the NNU offensive struggles continued, the WOU offense was clicking. They scored three runs in the seventh to take a late 6-4 lead. The Nighthawks went down in order in teh seventh inning in and had a great chance in the eighth to put the game back in their favor. Arechiga walked and
Caleb Boswell singled to put the tying run at first with out any outs.
Tate Lewis then singled on a bunt to load the bases, still without any outs. Hunter Lutman kept up his career night with a fly out, strike out, and ground out to escape the bases loaded jam unscathed.
Down to their final three outs,
Gavin Brubaker reached first on an error and took second on a wild pitch. The momentum slowly shifted Northwest Nazarene's way as the tying run was at the plate.
Kaleb Karpstein doubled to right as Brubaker crossed home to bring NNU within one. With the tying run at second,
Kyle Becker grounded out to first but used a productive out to advanced the tying run 90-feet away. an
Adrian Arechiga single to right tied the game and a
Caleb Boswell single moved the winning run to third.
Elliot Brown stepped up and hit a flyball to center field with one out. Arechiga tagged up from third and beat the throw home to claim the program's third straight GNAC title.
Kaden Mullins got the start and pitched 4.0 inning giving up two runs on four hits with three strikeouts while
Hawk Hill was only able to get one out, giving up one run with two hits. Tyson Rutehrford pitched 1.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits and three strikeouts before
Wade Duncan (W, 1-1) came in. Duncan pitched 3.0 innings and didn't give up a run while striking out four batters with two hits.
NNU collected 13 hits and was led by
Kaleb Karpstein with three.
Elliot Brown recorded his 12th RBI of the year to win the game and secure the title.
The Nighthawks now have an overall record of 38-16 and will await their match up for the NCAA DII Regional Round. The NCAA DII Selection Show will air at 8 p.m. (MT) on Sunday, May 10.
You can watch it
here.
