NAMPA, Idaho – Senior infielder Ashlee Lynch went 4 for 7 with two RBI on Saturday as the Western Oregon softball team dropped the final two games of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference series at Halle Field. Northwest Nazarene won the opener 6-4 and earned the series split with a 6-3 victory in game two.
 
WOU drops to 16-15 overall and 3-7 in conference play. NNU evened their season record to 19-19 while cresting above the .500-mark in the GNAC at 9-7.
 
The Wolves will play a four-game, home-and-home series next weekend against Concordia beginning with a pair of games at Porter Park in Portland on Friday, April 14 at 2 p.m. PDT.
 
GAME ONE – Northwest Nazarene 6, Western Oregon 4
WOU swatted three home runs but allowed a third-inning grand slam and single runs in the fifth and seventh frames in a 6-4 loss.
 
Senior infielder Kelsie Gardner hit solo homers to lead off the fifth inning and with one out in the seventh inning, her first two of the season. Lynch added the third WOU home run of the game with a two-run blast to right field scoring Ashley Doyle after she doubled in the sixth inning.
 
The Crusaders struck the major blow in the game in the top of the third inning as NNU's Brittany Genuardi capped off a two-out rally with a grand slam for an early 4-0 lead.
 
Senior pitcher Sammi Cadwallder tossed seven innings allowing six runs on 10 hits while striking out three in the circle for WOU.
 
GAME TWO – Northwest Nazarene 6, Western Oregon 3
NNU used a four-run fifth inning to take Saturday's second game and net a series split against the Wolves.
 
Senior catcher Ku'ulei Siolo was the only Western Oregon player with more than one hit, going 2 for 3 including a RBI single in the fifth inning. The game featured 18 combined hits between the two teams, none that went for extra bases.
 
Junior pitcher Lizzet Dominguez gave up five runs on eight hits in four innings. The final three frames were tossed by sophomore Haley Fabian. She surrendered an unearned run on two hits while striking out four.
 
After Siolo's run-scoring hit, the next 10 WOU batters were set down by NNU pitcher Rylee Thomas, who earned her eighth win of the year.