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ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Crusaders came within one heartbreaking out of victory.

That one out eluded the road team, though, as a two-out, walk-off single to left field gave Central Washington a 6-5 comeback win over Northwest Nazarene in the opener of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader.

The Wildcats then erupted in their final at-bat to snap a tie and score an 8-2 win in the days' nightcap.

"We played well today and came up short in the last inning of both games," said NNU head softball coach Rich Wagner. "This team played close to its potential today.

"Now we start getting ready for next weekend."

Next weekend the Crusaders host back-to-back doubleheaders when Western Washington visits Halle Field on the NNU campus.

First pitch on Friday is 2 p.m. as NNU (2-17, 0-8 GNAC) will be playing just its fifth game at home this season.

On the road Saturday, NNU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Ali Schauer and a CWU error, then down 4-2 in the fifth, got a run on another error before taking the lead on a two-run homer by Ashley Pesek.

The blast by Pesek kept the Crusaders on top until the bottom of the seventh when a two-out RBI single by Katie Focher tied it, then Alexa Olague singled to left on a 3-2 pitch, spoiling NNU's strong effort.

Pesek, Whitney Carlton and Kendra Day each had a pair of hits in the day's first game for the Crusaders.

In the nightcap, another Schauer RBI single gave NNU a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.

Central Washington tied it in its half of the inning then briefly pushed out to a 2-1 lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth.

Searching for the road win, NNU answered with a Carlton solo homer to left-center field, but the Wildcats rallied for six runs in the bottom of the sixth, denying NNU the victory.