Baseball Josh Burkholder - Assistant AD, Communications

NNU Routs CSUMB in Super Regional Opener, One Win Away From College World Series

NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene baseball is just one win away from going back to the NCAA DII College World Series.
 
The Nighthawks earned a statement victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday night on Vail Field, trouncing the Otters 14-0 in the opening game of the 2025 DII West Super Regional.
 
NNU and CSUMB will now play again at 6:00 p.m. on Friday night, with the Nighthawks needing the one victory to take the West Region title and advance to Cary, while the Otters are looking to keep their season alive and force a winner-take-all game three on Saturday.
 
Ernesto Lugo-Canchola started on the mound for the Nighthawks and worked around a pair of two-out walks to record a scoreless first inning. CSUMB had an opportunity to score from second base on a two-out single to right field, but the Otter runner was gunned down by a laser from Nin Burns II to Drew Deal for the tag at the plate. Lugo-Canchola then set down the Otters in order in the top of the second with two strikeouts.
 
The NNU bats came alive in the bottom of the frame, starting with a leadoff single from Casey Wayne and an RBI double to the wall in left center from Cole Calnon. Calnon then scored on an RBI groundout by Carter Walsh. Two more runs followed with two outs, as Nin Burns II poked an RBI single through the left side and then came in to score on a triple off the center field wall from Bryan Rojas to make it 4-0.
 
After another 1-2-3 inning from Lugo-Canchola, Cris Enriquez added to the Nighthawks' lead with solo homer to left to lead off the bottom of the third.
 
The Nighthawks would then explode for six runs in the bottom of the fifth, starting with a Gavin Brubaker single through the right side to score Wayne. With two outs, Deal hit a two-RBI single to left-center and Burns followed with a two-run homer to left. The two-out rally continued, with Kaleb Karpstein knocking an RBI single to left to push the NNU lead to 11-0.
 
NNU's final three runs came in the top of the eighth, with Rojas going opposite field to left for a three-run homer. The Nighthawks had 16 hits in the game with six going for extra bases, including three homers. Eight different players registered an RBI in the win.
 
On the other side, Lugo-Canchola continued to shut down Monterey Bay for the rest of his time on the mound. He would leave after seven innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five on 111 pitches. The victory adds to his NNU single-season record for wins as he improves to 12-0 on the year with his 12th outing of five or more innings allowing two or less runs.
 
Jakob Rochelle threw the final two scoreless frames, allowing just two hits as he put the bow on a big Nighthawks' victory.
 
Nighthawks Notes
  • A West Region title and trip to Cary would be the second for the program, with the first coming in the 2021 season
  • NNU improves to 3-2 all-time against Monterey Bay and back to .500 in the program's NCAA postseason play at 8-8
  • Monterey Bay was the team that ended NNU's season last year, defeating the Nighthawks in the regional round
  • NNU's 43rd win of the season is now a standalone GNAC record, eclipsing the previous mark of 42 set by Western Oregon in 2005
  • The Nighthawks are now 28-4 in their last 32 games
  • NNU improves to 26-1 when scoring eight or more runs in a game and 26-3 when they hit at least one home run
  • Bryan Rojas was just a single away from hitting for the cycle, doing all the tougher parts with a triple in the second, a double in the fifth, and his homer in the eighth
  • Rojas has now homered four times in his last four games, all NCAA Regional action, and is now in double digits with 10 on the year
  • Nin Burns II broke the GNAC single-season record for runs scored when he crossed the plate in the fifth on his home run, now at 68 for the season
  • Burns and Rojas are also each tied for second in NNU single-season hits at 77 apiece, just two shy of the current record of 79
  • Burns' 52 RBIs is now tied for third in a season in program history, and Enriquez is just behind in fifth at 51 on the year
  • Lugo-Canchola's 96 strikeouts are now third in a single-season in program history
  • Lugo-Canchola lowered his season ERA to a minuscule 1.94 and his opposing batting average to an incredible .166 in his 88.1 innings of work
  • All four of Monterey Bay's hits in the game were singles
  • The Otters also committed three errors, while the Nighthawks played a clean game defensively with none