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NAMPA, Idaho – Once again, Noelle Wright was dynamic in the circle for the Crusaders softball team.

Wright struck out seven in 11 innings work and did not allow an earned run, earning one win and nearly sparking Northwest Nazarene to a comeback victory in a nonconference doubleheader against visiting Lewis & Clark College.

Unfortunately, the Crusaders comeback fell just a bit short against the Pioneers, who won the nightcap 8-5 after NNU grabbed the day's opener 2-1 over Lewis & Clark at Halle Field on the NNU campus Tuesday afternoon.

"It was really nice to get Noelle another win," NNU assistant softball coach Joel Oliver said. "She's been working really hard to get that.

"We just need to compete longer at the plate and come up with the big hit."

The big hit eluded the Crusaders (8-17 overall, 2-5 GNAC) for the first few frames of the nightcap, allowing the Pioneers (6-12, 2-9 NWC) to forge an 8-0 lead.

Wright came on in relief in the fourth, quieting the Lewis & Clark bats and providing some energy for her teammates.

"When we don't have energy we don't play well," Oliver said. "We just have to be able to play all 14 innings in a day with lots of energy and we'll be fine."

Energized by Wright, NNU rallied in the bottom of the fifth as Kira Varady reach on a one-out single, then a two-out RBI single by Kendra Day got the Crusaders on the board.

They quickly added more as Justine Callen ripped a two-run double to right-center, then she scored on an RBI single down the left-field line by Brianna Kinghorn, making it an 8-4 ballgame.

"They got confidence and they built on it and they ran with it," Oliver said of the rally. "Hitting's contagious and they took it and they ran with it, and we're hoping to take that positive into this weekend and get some wins this weekend."

Callen added an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh for NNU, which managed to bring the tying run to the plate before the rally ran out of steam and the Crusaders settled for the twinbill split.

The day started strong for NNU, which jumped into the lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run rally in the opener as Callen and Kinghorn each had an RBI double.

That 2-0 lead proved to be plenty for Wright (3-10), who struck out six and scattered three hits for the opening win.

Kinghorn went 4-for-6 with two RBIs, Callen added a 3-for-8 day with four RBIs and Day and Gatalina Schuster also added three hits each to lead the offense for NNU, which returns to the field Friday and Saturday to host Western Oregon in GNAC doubleheaders. First pitch Friday is at 2 p.m. and Saturday's doubleheader starts at noon.

"We just need to take the positives from today and build on it and go into conference next weekend with those positives," Oliver said.