Monday, April 11, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – There were souvenirs aplenty at Avitus Group Stadium over the past weekend.

Northwest Nazarene rolled to a four-game road sweep over Montana State Billings, outscoring the Yellowjackets 44-15 and clubbing 14 home runs. In picking up four wins, NNU picked up a game on Saint Martin’s and Western Washington to pull into a three-way tie for first in the GNAC standings with 12 games left in the season. For the offensive explosion that pulled them into the thick of the conference playoff race, the Nighthawks have earned GNAC Team of the Week honors.

“We’ve been focused on being present for each other and getting better every day,” head coach Rich Wagner said. “As a team, we did a lot of things very well this weekend and offensively it was fun to see their hard work start to pay off.”

The Nighthawks were slamming the softball early and often. In game one, an 8-3 victory, NNU hit three doubles and four home runs, including two from GNAC Player of the Week Maia McNicoll. The Nighthawks took control with a four-run third inning ignited by an RBI single from sophomore Sidney Booth followed by a two-run blast from McNicoll, with both hits coming on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. On the next pitch, freshman Charlotte Forniss also left the yard to give NNU back-to-back home runs and a 4-1 lead.

The Nighthawks repeated the home runs on back-to-back pitches feat in the fifth, when Booth scored shortstop Ivy Hommel with a two-run blast before McNicoll launched her second of the game on the very next offering from Alyssa Ethridge, which chased the MSUB starter. In addition to her two runs scored and three RBI at the plate, Booth was a force on the mound, hurling a complete-game effort and giving up three runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts.

Friday’s nightcap brought more longballs and shutdown pitching from NNU. Sophomore Abigail Gagnon and Hommel each hit solo homers while Hommel added a two-run single in the fourth. On the mound, junior Tori Hensley pitched the full seven innings, one run on just one hit, walking none and striking out five for a 6-1 victory.

The floodgates opened during Saturday’s doubleheader. The first game lasted only five innings as the Nighthawks scored in every frame on their way to a 14-2 run-rule win. The game couldn’t have started much better, as second baseman Emma Mulligan was hit by a pitch and Hommel reached on a fielder's choice before Booth crushed a home run to straightaway center field to give NNU a 3-0 lead three batters into the game. The trio decided to do it again to bookend the proceedings in the fifth, as Mulligan and Hommel each walked before Booth hit her second three-run bomb of the game to provide the final 14-2 margin.

In between, the Nighthawks scored five in the second, with catcher Kellcie Adams and Hommel contributing RBI singles before McNicoll homered yet again, with her two-run shot pushing the lead to 8-1. Sophomore Gina Skinner got the win in relief, striking out seven in three shutout innings, and got in on the offensive action with an RBI single in the fourth inning.

The Yellowjackets put up a fight in the series finale, jumping on Skinner for five runs in the first inning and leading 5-1 after two innings of play, but the avalanche was coming. Once again, it was the top of the Nighthawks’ order as Mulligan reached on an error before Hommel and Booth each singled to load the bases for McNicoll, who socked a grand slam down the right field line to tie the ballgame. The Nighthawks took the lead later that inning on a sacrifice fly from Hensley, and by the time McNicoll hit her fifth home run of the series, a two-run shot in the fifth inning, it was 12-8 Northwest Nazarene. Along the way, Hommel homered twice, connecting on solo blasts in the first and fifth innings. Forniss was the game’s winning pitcher, giving up three runs in 2.1 innings of relief, and punctuated the series with a three-run home run to left-center field in the top of the seventh to provide the finale’s final 16-9 margin.

McNicoll won Player of the Week honors after batting .692 with five home runs and 13 RBI. Hommel also hit .692 and scored 12 runs, including eight on Saturday. Booth scored eight runs and drove in nine while recording 12 strikeouts in nine innings in the circle. As a team, NNU hit .384 with 14 home runs and 44 runs scored while pitching to a 3.77 ERA and striking out 33 Yellowjacket batters.

Northwest Nazarene is 21-15 overall and one of three GNAC teams tied for first at 9-3 in conference play. They will return home to play Western Oregon (19-19, 4-8) in a four-game series on Friday and Saturday.