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NAMPA, Idaho – With three swings, the evening turned into a celebration for the Crusaders.

After falling 9-6 to Saint Martin's in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams earlier in the day, the Northwest Nazarene baseball team played long ball, hitting three two-run homers for a 6-4 win and a split with the Saints in the teams' doubleheader Friday night at Elmore Vail Field on the NNU campus.

"The game of baseball is about recovery, you have to recover quickly," NNU coach Rocke Musgraves said. "I would say that's the No. 1 thing we've preached all fall and spring is being able to recover when things don't go your way.

"Instead of taking four or five pitches to get back on track, I think that we were able to recover a lot quicker tonight when things didn't go our way, which is a sign we're growing and maturing as a team," Musgraves added.

NNU (5-10 overall, 1-1 GNAC) recovered from an opener that saw the Saints (2-7, 1-1) jump in front 9-0, then hold on as the Crusaders chipped away.

SMU again grabbed an early lead in the nightcap, as well, going up 3-0 before the Crusaders found a spark off the bat of Ben Circeo.

With one out in the bottom of the third, NNU's shortstop from Bothell, Wash., ripped a ball into the right-center gap, and from the moment it left his bat, he knew he had a triple. Hustling around the bases, Circeo slid in safely, igniting NNU's offense.

He didn't wait on third long as Tate Glasgow launched a two-run, two-out homer to left, closing the gap on the scoreboard to 3-2.

And after a Sam Cook single, Nick Morelli put NNU in front with one swing, blasting another two-run homer to left for the Crusaders in the same inning.

The Saints tied the game in the top of the fourth as Blake Lord singled, moved to third on a Spencer Dodd double and scored on an error, but with runners at second and third with no one out, Crusader starting pitcher Andrew Groves refused to give an inch.

After the error tied the score, Groves struck out two Saint batters and got an easy grounder to short to escape the jam with the game only tied, 4-4.

"It certainly doesn't hurt when you have a warrior like Andrew Groves," Musgraves said of the junior righty from Mukilteo, Wash., who struck out nine in the complete-game, seven-inning win. "God made that kid to compete on the baseball field, their is no finer competitor. He's an absolute joy to coach and he glorifies the Lord with his tenacity and with the way he plays the game."

With Groves (1-1) in control on the hill, all NNU needed was one more big swing.

Anthony Flatt provided it after a one-out double by Kaleb DeHaas, blasting the Crusaders third two-run homer of the night high over the left-field wall for a 6-4 lead after six innings.

Groves promptly retired the Saints in order in the top of the seventh, finishing off the victory for NNU.

A win that erased the memory of the opener, a game that wasn't all that bad for NNU despite the early deficit and final outcome.

Musgraves was pleased to get shutout innings of relief each from EJ Leitzinger, Will Rieke and Ryan Kuhn, and was able to get a few position players on the field and at-bats.

"I thought our pitchers that came in did a nice job, Kuhn, Rieke and EJ," Musgraves said. "All three — it was nice to see them get in there and record some big outs for us.

"We kind of used that first game to get people experience," NNU's coach added. "You work now to win later. Sometimes you have to use a game to do that."

DeHaas had four hits in the twinbill for NNU and a pair of RBIs in the first game, while Glasgow and Morelli each picked up three hits on the day, with Glasgow knocking in three runs and Morelli two.

And Ryan Johnson added a big game at the plate in the opener, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Crusaders, who are back in action Saturday when they host St. Martin's at noon in another GNAC doubleheader.