Thursday, May 10, 2018

CHICO, Calif. – A four-run sixth inning broken open a pitcher’s dual in Northwest Nazarene’s first-ever NCAA Division II Softball National Championship game as No. 1 seed Chico State used the frame to take a 5-2 win from the Nighthawks in the West 1 Regional on Thursday at the Wildcat Softball Field.

Trailing 2-1 going into the home half of the sixth, the No. 2 ranked Wildcats put the first three hitters on the frame on base and tied the game at 2-2 when Amanda Flores was hit by a pitch, driving home Cyrena Taylor. Megan Bowley drew a bases-loaded walk to score Karli Skowrup for the lead before Megan Worley added insurance runs with a single to center field that drove home two more.

Anna Williams led the Nighthawks offensively, going 2 for 4. Bowley and Ari Marsh each had two hits to pace the Wildcats (50-3), who won their 25th consecutive game.

With the loss, Northwest Nazarene (31-22) will face UC San Diego in an elimination game on Friday at 1 p.m. (Pacific). The Tritons lost to Cal Baptist in the opening game of the West 1 Regional, 3-1.

Jordan Adams took the loss for Northwest Nazarene, allowing five runs on seven hits with five walks and nine strikeouts in the complete-game effort. She fell to 19-7 on the season. Haley Gilham earned the win for Chico State, allowing two runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Williams, who was the hero for the Nighthawks in the GNAC Championships, led off the game with a single. She proceeded to steal second before Brittany Genuardi walked. Williams was stranded in scoring position, however, when Shelbie Martinez was coaxed into a fielder’s choice.

Adams, meanwhile, walked a pair of batters in the bottom first of the with no damage and did not allow her first until Bowley went to left field with one out in the third inning.

The Nighthawks finally broke through in the top of the fourth and, for the first time in three games, it was not a Williams RBI. Genuardi led off with a single through the left side. Pinch-runner Lauren Bassett advanced to second on Lisa Sylvester’s ground out and came home on Martinez’s single to right and an ensuing error on the play. Anna Olson made it a 2-0 game when her single up the middle scored Martinez from third.

The Wildcats’ comeback started in the bottom of the fifth when Claire Wayne stroked a solo home run to left center field on just the second hit given up by Adams on the afternoon.