Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Just one big swing could have changed things oh so much.

Instead, Northwest Nazarene turned in a great effort but couldn't come up with the clutch hit when needed, falling 3-2 and 6-2 at Western Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Friday afternoon.

"We played well today, we just couldn't come up with the big hit until the last inning when it was too late," NNU softball coach Rich Wagner said.

The Crusaders' Gatalina Schuster did pick up a couple of big hits in the opener as her infield single in the third got NNU (11-30 overall, 3-15 GNAC) on the board, then Schuster crushed a solo home run to right in the top of the sixth, making the score 3-2.

The Crusaders then put runners at first and second in the same inning, but with two outs, failed to get another clutch hit as the Vikings (25-11, 12-6) held on for the opening-game win.

Game two turned out to be more of the same as NNU stranded five base-runners through the first six innings, falling behind 6-0 before rallying in the seventh.

Schuster again played a big part in the rally, singling home NNU's first run before Whitney Carlton added an RBI single.

But trying to score NNU's third run on Carlton's base hit, Schuster was thrown out at home to end the game.

"We will come out tomorrow and compete," Wagner said.

Schuster, back in the lineup after missing three games last weekend because of an injury, led the offense with a pair of hits in the opener and another in the nightcap, along with three RBIs.

Shelby Johnson added a pair of hits in the opener for NNU and Carlton was 2-for-3 in the nightcap for the Crusaders, who play another doubleheader at Western Washington on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. (PT).