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NAMPA, Idaho – The Crusaders will simple look to move on.

Northwest Nazarene's baseball team got two stellar performances on the hill from tandem aces Colben McGuire and Jake Reppert only to see two determined comeback efforts by visiting Montana State Billings spoil the day Friday at Elmore Vail Field on the NNU campus.

After McGuire and Reppert each left their respective games, the Yellowjackets rallied in their final at-bat in each game to notch 5-3 and 6-3 victories over the Crusaders in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader.

"The game of baseball - you can't be looking in the rearview mirror, you've got to keep your head forward or this game will kill you," NNU head baseball coach Rocke Musgraves said, shaking off Friday's two setbacks.

"Starting pitching was real good," Musgraves added of McGuire and Reppert.

McGuire set the tone for the day by battling back the top scoring and hitting team in the GNAC through eight innings, and getting just enough help from his offense to leave on top, up 3-2 after eight innings.

An RBI double by Kaleb DeHaas tied it, 1-1, for the Crusaders in the fourth inning before Josh Hatfield's RBI groundout in the sixth inning gave McGuire and NNU a 2-1 lead.
 

Andrew Helmstadter made it 3-1 with a solo blast to left-center, and it looked good for NNU (14-13, 4-6 GNAC) with McGuire cruising along.

A solo homer by Brody Miller got MSU Billings one run closer, setting the stage for a three-run rally in the top of the ninth that won it for the Yellowjackets (9-16, 4-5).

Kyle Thomson and Jesse Hilyard each had a pair of hits in the opener to lead NNU's offense.

Focused on the next game, NNU came out strong led by Reppert, who struck out seven and gave up just one run in six innings work in the nightcap.

And his Crusader teammates put him on top quickly on a Helmstadter  RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first.

NNU got another run when Tucker Campbell doubled and scored on an error in the fifth, and a Tyler Davis RBI single in the sixth looked to have NNU well in control up 3-1, as Reppert left the hill.

That's when MSU Billings rallied in its final at-bat, plating five to steal a second straight win in the team's four-game series.

Thomson led NNU, going 3-for-3, while Hilyard and Campbell each added two hits in the nightcap.

The two teams are back in action again Saturday, wrapping up their four-game series with another doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Elmore Vail Field.