Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
The Nighthawks rained down on the Wolves from April 5-6 in a pair of doubleheaders that saw a four-game series belong to Northwest Nazarene, 3-1.
Northwest protected their diamond field in game one and put up a series of runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings that made it 10-2.
Number one at-bat and first-year Tyler Creach tripled down the left-field line to start play for the Wolves. But Creach’s run in thereafter, along with outfielder Zoe Clark’s solo home run in the fourth inning were Western’s only scores. First-year pitcher for the Nighthawks, Jordan Adams, kept opposing batters from doing much damage. With the highest earned-run-average — 1.64 — in the GNAC, and a 12-5 win-loss record, her pitching power showed. Adams struck out 10 in the complete game.
The action intensified in game two, starting in the first inning. Creach initiated play again with the game’s first single and junior infield teammate Ryanne Huffman followed suit. After the two scored, two more built Western’s lead, thanks to Clark’s triple that batted in junior catcher Nicole Miller and first-year Kylie Lynn, who ran in Clark.
Nazarene came back in their half of the first, scoring three runs of their own. While it looked as if the Nighthawks weren’t done, a 6-4-3 double play prevented them from establishing more momentum.
Clark became familiar with Nazarene’s sophomore pitcher Rae Young, and homered to help extend the lead to 7-3. The pair of Creach and Huffman scored home for the second time in the fourth and, a few innings later, Clark’s two-shot homer poured icing on the cake for the 11-5 win.
Adams returned to the mound for game three and the Wolves could not figure her out. This allowed the offense to flourish for the Nighthawks: a single, double, triple and homer each helped score runs throughout that decided the game at 7-0.
Western sought to even up the series in the final game and locked in during the second inning. The bases were loaded, and a series of advances via walks, wild pitches and sacrifice fly’s built the difference to 5-1. Soaring back were the Nighthawks, however, with three runs of their own in the fourth.
One more Wolf run was added before Adams returned to the helm in the fifth. At six-all in the seventh, the game went into extras in a pitching matchup of Western junior Haley Fabian versus Adams. The two went toe-to-toe until a walk-off homer in the ninth retired the Wolves, 7-6.
A return to home field is in store for Western on April 14, when they’ll match up with Concordia in a doubleheader. A second doubleheader set will be played on April 15 in Portland, OR. The Wolves throw first at 12 p.m. in game one.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Photo by: wouwolves.com
