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NAMPA, Idaho - Combining to hit 14 home runs on the day, the Northwest Nazarene baseball team split a Great Northwest Athletic Conference twinbill with Western Oregon University on Saturday afternoon, winning game one 14-12, but falling 11-3 in the nightcap. 

The Crusaders are now 7-10 overall, 1-3 in GNAC play, while Western Oregon sits at 8-9 overall and 3-1 in league action.

 

The power surge favored the Wolves in the early going as WOU hit six home runs in game one, but it was the late Crusader home runs that decided the opener as Sean McDonald and Ryan VanBeek went back-to-back in the seventh, part of a six-run inning that tied the score at 11-11.  Both McDonald's three-run blast and VanBeek's solo shot were their first of the year. 

 

The game's final home run proved to be the deciding factor as Joel Oliver's three-run home run over the center field wall lifted the Crusaders to a 14-11 lead in the bottom of the eighth. 

 

NNU would hold the Wolves to one run in the ninth as Kalen Hruza (1-0) picked up the win and Ryan Brown earned his first save of the season.  It was Hruza's first career win.

 

McDonald, VanBeek, and Connor Rankin all finished with four hits on the day to lead the Crusaders, while Ty Windall and Cameron Louie each had three.  VanBeek added his second home run in game two, a solo shot in the third.

 

Western Oregon scored one run in the first inning of game two and never trailed, defeating the Crusaders 11-3.  Jesse Gwaltney (1-2) took the loss, with Kirk Lind (1-1) earning the win for WOU.

 

Ryan Udy added the final NNU home run of the afternoon, a solo dinger in the fifth.

 

The Crusaders will travel to Central Washington next weekend for a four-game GNAC series in Ellensburg.