LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. – Northwest hit six home runs, but a porous defense negated much of that as the Eagles went 1-2 at the Triple Crown So Cal Challenge Friday to open the season.
 
Jorden Dippel and Abby Brake hit two home runs each, and Nashoni Boyd and Ashley Oswald added one each.
 
"We looked like a team that hadn't had a lot of opportunities to take a lot of ground balls, and that's just what it was," said NU Head Coach Pam Fink. "Over the course of 50 games, we're going to get better. We hit the ball well today."
 
Arizona Christian 7, Northwest 4
 
Jordan Dippel and Nashoni Boyd hit home runs in the season opener, but seven NU errors led to the team's demise.
 
ACU broke a scoreless tie in the fourth on a fielder's choice by Elsy Guzman, but the Eagles tied the game in the home half of the inning when Sama Parisio singled and eventually scored on an error.
 
The Firestorm added four runs on two hits and two NU errors in the top of the fifth and took advantage of three Northwest errors in the sixth for a 7-1 lead.
 
Boyd homered to start the sixth inning to cut the ACU lead to 7-2.
 
Laurissa Lee singled ahead of a two-run home run to center by Dippel in the seventh for the final margin.
 
Carly Tighe took the loss in relief. Rachel Hawley pitched 5.1 innings, allowing one earned run while striking out four batters.
 
Dippel led the Eagles with two hits.
 
La Sierra 4, NU 3
 
Abby Brake had a memorable first start in the circle, striking out the side in the first inning and adding a home run in her first college at-bat. 
 
La Sierra took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, but Brake tied it with her second home run of the game in the fourth.
 
LSU went ahead 4-2 in the fifth inning. The Eagles scored their final run in the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Sammi Caron and Dippel.
 
Brake struck out five in 4.2 innings, taking the loss. 
 
Brake and Dippel had two hits each, with Caron and Parisio adding one each.
 
NU 10, San Diego Christian 9
 
The Eagles broke out on top and withstood a six-run seventh inning by San Diego Christian.
 
Alexis Contreras had an RBI single and scored on Nicola Fish's RBI double for a 2-0 lead in the first. SDCU scored two in the bottom of the first to tie the game.
 
Northwest erupted for six runs in the third inning. Fish started the RBI fest with a run-scoring single, and Oswald hit a three-run home run for a 6-2 lead. Meli Memea singled, and Dippel delivered with an inside-the-park home run for an 8-2 advantage.
 
Sam Parisio added a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and the 10th NU run scored in the top of the seventh when Dippel walked and eventually scored on Parisio's RBI single.
 
NU had 13 hits, led by Fish with three. Dippel, Parisio Contreras, and Oswald had two apiece, and Memea and Caron added one each.
 
Hawley went 4.2 innings and allowed one earned run for the win.