The Saint Martin’s baseball team was swept in a double-header by Northwest Nazarene at home Saturday afternoon. The Saints first lost 7-1 in a game that was tight until the ninth inning, and they followed it up with a 7-4 defeat in the second contest.
In the opener, Saint Martin’s took the lead first on an RBI groundout by Isaac Hoag in the first before Northwest Nazarene tied it in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly. Saints starter Hudson Normand pitched an efficient game against the Nighthawks, throwing seven innings and allowing seven hits, one run, one walk and striking out three.
No one scored until the ninth inning, when the Nighthawks tagged Saints reliever Caiden Schultz with six runs on five hits, two walks and an error. The go-ahead run came on an RBI single by Caleb Boswell.
In the second game, each team scored a run in the first inning, with the Saints earning a run with a bases-loaded walk. Northwest Nazarene jumped in front in the fourth with three runs, and the Nighthawks added one more in the fifth and another in the sixth.
The Saints scored two in the sixth, fueled by Bransyn Hong’s RBI single, to cut the deficit to 6-3. But the Nighthawks tacked on a bases-loaded walk in the seventh for an added cushion, and the Saints could only score one in the seventh in their comeback attempt.
Saint Martin’s (8-17) has now lost seven in a row and is 0-6 to start GNAC play. The Saints get two more against Northwest Nazarene in a double-header Monday, with Game 1 starting at 10 a.m.
