The softball team took care of business Thursday afternoon, using timely hitting and solid pitching to sweep Northwest Nazarene, 9-2 and 10-1, in a GNAC doubleheader at Logan Field.
Northwest Nazarene (9-35, 2-16 GNAC) took the early lead in game one, as Jael Henthorn and Haley Hevern scored on a single by Katie Free and a fielding error. After that, Redhawk starter Erin Martin () did not give up another run, allowing only five hits and a walk the rest of the way in picking up her 18th victory of the season.
started the comeback with a single run in the second inning, and then took the lead in the third inning with three runs, as Brenda Stice (, ) and Katie Antich () drove in one run each on singles and SeattleU took advantage of a Crusader error for another run.
In the fourth inning, Jamie Foote (, ) singled to score Lauren Carlson (, ), and Sandra Hernandez (, ) followed with a double that drove in Lauren Berin (Lacey, ). The Redhawks earned three more runs in the fifth thanks to a bases-loaded single by Cassie Cueto (, ) to score Kaha Weir () and a bases-loaded single by Foote that scored Antich and Cueto.
Game two started well for , as Antich walked and Megan MacIsaac () doubled to lead off the first inning. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Jane Purdy () and Berin drove in the two runners. The Redhawk lead increased in the fourth inning thanks to a three-run home run by Foote, her second of the season.
After Vanessa Shaw led off the top of the fifth inning with a home run for Northwest Nazarene, the Redhawks again loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. After Cueto scored on a wild pitch and Foote walked, Stice singled to drive in Purdy and Katie Petersen () drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Berin. Purdy ended the game in the sixth inning with a two-run home run that invoked the eight-run mercy rule.
Kelsey Reynolds () earned her tenth victory of the year with six innings of solid work, allowing only three hits while picking up a strikeout along the way. Offensively combined for 22 hits in the doubleheader, with Foote driving in six runs in the two games.
Seattle University (28-10, 10-4 GNAC), in first place by a game over three teams, is next scheduled to face one of those second-place squads, as Central Washington comes to town Saturday, April 19, for a 12 noon doubleheader at Logan Field. This will be the last Redhawk home date until the final day of the regular season on May 3.