PORTLAND, Ore.—Breaking a scoreless stalemate with three runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, No. 1-seeded Northwest Nazarene defeated No. 4-seeded Western Oregon, 3-0, in the opening day of action at the GNAC Championships on Thursday. 
 
Western Oregon (27-25) will turn around and play No. 2-seeded Central Washington (31-15) in an elimination game on Friday. Opening pitch against the Wildcats is set for 4:30 p.m. No. 3-seeded Simon Fraser throttled CWU, 9-0, in the early game of the day. NNU improved to 30-21 with the win and will play SFU in the winner's bracket at 2 p.m.

Jordan Adams, the GNAC Pitcher of the Year, struck out 13, including a string of six straight batters that accounted for the first six outs of the game to lead the Nighthawks to the win.
 
The Wolves threatened to score against Adams in the 1st inning with Tyler Creach leading off the game with a double down the left-field line. Creach moved to third on Ryanne Huffman's single before Adams sent the Wolves down with three straight strikeouts. 

The Wolves kept the Nighthawks off the scoreboard early in the game with a pair of defensive gems from the outfield. Zoe Clark got the Wolves out of a jam in the 1st inning with a double-play after a fly-out catch and a throw out to pick off the runner at first. In the 2nd inning, Arceneaux showed off her arm with a throw-out at the plate to prevent the initial score of the game.    
 
NNU finally broke through in the bottom of the 4th with Lisa Sylvester leading off the frame. A walk by Abigail Otto placed two runners on for Ivy Hommel, who singled to to left for a pair of runs. The Nighthawks added the third score on a Williams single.
 
The Wolves mounted an attack again in the to of the 5th with two on and no outs after Sydney Bowers singles to start the inning and Arceneaux followed with a walk. Adams was then gifted a double play by the NNU defense before closing out the stanza with another strikeout .