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NAMPA, Idaho - Crusader starting pitchers Colben McGuire and Aaron Vaughn again dominated on the hill, but they didn't have to do it alone.

The Northwest Nazarene pitchers set the tone for the day and their teammates followed their lead with timely hitting that led to a nonconference doubleheader sweep by the Crusader baseball team, 7-4 and 6-2 over Hawaii Hilo in the home debut for NNU at Elmore Vail Field on Monday.

"I thought, as always, we got what we expected out of McGuire and Vaughn," NNU baseball coach Rocke Musgraves said. "When you're riding those two horses it just takes a lot of pressure off the offense."

In the opener, McGuire (1-1) struck out six in seven scoreless innings, but his offense took some pressure off him, too.
Sam Cook came through with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first, and McGuire had himself an early 1-0 lead.

McGuire protected that lead into the fourth when Nick Morelli's RBI double added to it, putting the Crusaders (3-8 overall) in front 2-0.

McGuire maintained the 2-0 lead through the top of the seventh before leaving the game, but his teammates didn't stop there as Kyle Thomson added an RBI groundout in the bottom of the seventh, and after a perfect inning of relief by Andrew Groves, NNU's offense went right back to work.

In the bottom of the eight, Kaleb DeHaas had an RBI sacrifice fly, Ben Circeo provided a huge two-run double and Josh Hatfield had an RBI single, pushing the lead to 7-0.

Circeo's double proved huge as the Vulcans (0-2) rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth, making Circeo's double the game-winner.

"Hitting is so much about confidence, and right now we're getting that confidence and we're having better at-bats," Musgraves said, as NNU got its offense rolling with 9-2 and 12-5 exhibition wins Friday over Prairie Baseball Academy. "I still think we're giving away at-bats, but we're getting better offensively."

A fact the Crusaders proved in the nightcap, again striking early as Morelli's two-out single scored Tate Glasgow for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

That gave Vaughn (2-1) breathing room as he struck out three in a complete-game, seven-inning win.

He got a two-run lead in the second on a Ryan Johnson RBI infield single, and after the Vulcans closed to 2-1 down in the top of the third, the Crusaders broke the game open with a four-run fifth highlighted by NNU's first home run of the year, a two-run blast to left by DeHaas.

Johnson and Morelli led the offense with a pair of hits in each win, with Johnson picking up three doubles and Morelli driving in three runs.

Cook and Circeo each added a pair of hits in the opener for NNU, which hosts Hawaii Hilo in another doubleheader starting at noon on Tuesday.

"The way things are going you're always excited to get two wins," Musgraves said, "but I'm more happy that we're improving right now."