ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington Wildcats Baseball dropped its home opener Friday afternoon in a 10-4 loss in game one of a doubleheader against Northwest Nazarene. Play was stopped in game two due to darkness.
 
Game two will resume tomorrow (Feb. 29) at 11 a.m. with action picking up in the top of the eighth and the score knotted at a 3-3 tie.
 
Hitting for NNU (3-6, 1-0 GNAC) was the key to the game one victory as they had a 17-7 advantage over the Crimson and Black (3-8, 0-1 GNAC). Both teams had a pair of errors but three homeruns by NNU paved the way for the road win.
 
"I thought our guys battled the whole day and Dillon did a great job on the mound in game two. Offensively, we got some hits but left a few guys on so we need to be little more consistent on that," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said. "JJ did a good job to coming and I thought he threw well. We just got to make better plays and be more consistent defensively. If we take away the passed ball there [in game two] we might be winning that game."
 
At the time of press release, the Nighthawks had seven hits while the Wildcats had five in game two. Runs in the third, fourth, and sixth gave NNU their three, while CWU had two come in the fourth and one in the sixth.
 
Game 1: Northwest Nazarene 10, Central Washington 4
The game was scoreless through the first three innings. Both teams had opportunities in that span but defense was stout on both sides to start the opener. Brayde Hirai got the starting nod on the bump worked well in the first three frames.
 
NNU got on the board in the fourth with a two-out single to third base. Kyle Gracey got the RBI and scored Quentin Ayers to make it 1-0 before stealing second base. Kyle Payne then hit the RBI single to left field to make it 2-0.
 
Jaden Hassell got a run back in the bottom of the fourth for Central with an RBI base hit to left field. His long ball single scored Cameron McGrath and cut the Wildcats deficit to 2-1. The Nighthawks responded with a four-run inning in the fifth.
 
Shawn Grandmont hit a one-out solo homerun to right center field to get the run back for NNU and make it a 3-1 game. Hirai got a second out but then gave up a pair of singles. Gracey rewarded his teammates with a three-run shot over the left field to make it a 6-1 lead.
 
The Wildcats looked to respond in the bottom of the fifth but the Nighthawks worked a 1-2-3 inning to stay up by five runs. JJ Lemming entered the top of sixth in relief for the Wildcats. NNU managed to load the bases but CWU escaped the jam despite a fielding error.
 
CWU got a run back in the bottom of the frame with another RBI from Hassell. He once again brought McGrath home to make it 6-2. He and Austin Ohland were in scoring position but the Nighthawks got out of the stanza to stay up four.
 
A solo homerun from Payne to left field pushed NNU's lead back to five, 7-2, in the seventh. It remained 7-2 until the ninth when the two squads combined five runs. NNU tacked on three, while CWU added two.
 
NNU got its two runs on an RBI single and sacrifice fly. The third run was added on a throwing by Ohland to make it 10-2. CWU's two runs came on from a throwing error by NNU and a sacrifice fly. Hassell scored the first run, while Luke Smith was scored on the sacrifice by revor Tripoli to bring the final to 10-4.
 
Hassell led the way in game one going 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Justin Hampson and Ohland each had a pair of base hits, respectively. Ohland was 2-4, while Hampson went 2-5. Hirai suffered the loss (0-3) after going five complete. He gave up six runs, all earned, and fanned batters.
 
Game 2: Northwest Nazarene 3, Central Washington 2
Game two was stopped after seven innings due to darkness. Play will resume Saturday, Feb. 29 (tomorrow) at 11 a.m. Game will be resume at the top of the eighth inning tied at 3-3.

The second game had a similar start with defense playing well for both teams. The Nighthawks once again struck first which helped them work toward a day one sweep.
 
NNU's first run came in third inning. Parker Price hit a two-out RBI to left field and scored Kyle Gracey to make it a 1-0 lead for the visitors. They worked a quick 1-2-3 frame to close the third setting up a leadoff homer in the fourth by Shawn Grandmont to make it a 2-0 lead.
 
The bats came to life in the fourth for the 'Cats who scored a pair of runs on three hits to tie the game at 2-all. Adam Fahsel hit a leadoff double and two batters later Cameron McGrath scored him with a deep single to center field. Austin Ohland then hit an RBI single to right to score McGrath.
 
 
Both squads worked 1-2-3 inning in the fifth to keep it tied at 2-2. NNU retook the lead in the top of the sixth. Grandmont struck out but reached first first on a passed ball which allowed pinch runner Colton Moore to score from third to make it a 3-2 contest.
 
Central responded in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game a second time. Ohland knocked a sacrifice fly to right field for the RBI and brought Cameron McGrath home after his double. Neither scored in the seventh as the game was stopped.

Game two will resume at 11 a.m. followed by two more games to end the series. Games three and four are scheduled for a 12 and 3 p.m. first pitch, respectively.