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TURLOCK, Calif. – With the offense clicking, the Crusaders showed just how good they truly can be.

Brianna Kinghorn's three-run home run capped an 8-3 win for the Northwest Nazarene softball team to start their day at the Tournament of Championships (TOC) hosted by Cal State Stanislaus, and Whitney Carlton's two-run double gave the Crusaders a 6-5 win over the host Warriors on Friday.

NNU (6-24, 1-11 GNAC) closed a long, but successful day, with a 9-0 setback in five innings against Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Crusaders close out action at the TOC playing Sonoma State and Hawaii Hilo on Saturday, capping a 9-game in 5-day stretch.

"We played all facets of the game very well today," NNU head softball coach Rich Wagner said. "We knew when a couple bats woke up we would see good things happen."

The Crusaders got their offense rolling at home in a doubleheader against Willamette on Wednesday, platting 18 runs in two games.

That offensive momentum carried over for NNU against the Urban Knights in the day's opener as Gatalina Schuster doubled home a run then stole home, putting the Crusaders up 2-0 in the top of the second inning.

Ali Schauer added an RBI single before Kinghorn plated the next five with a two-run single to make it 5-0 in the third, then with a three-run homer to right-center for an 8-1 lead in the fifth.

Plenty of offense for Ashley Pesek who earned the win pitching four innings in the circle before Abigail Watkins came on to close out the victory.

A Schuster two-run triple in the top of the first got NNU rolling against the host Warriors in the Crusaders second game of the day, but the lead didn't last as Cal State Stanislaus rallied to tie it 3-3 in the first and grab a 5-4 lead in the fourth inning.

"Ali Schauer and Gatalina Schuster had a day full of great at-bats," Wagner said as Schuster went 4-for-7 with three RBIs and Schauer was 4-for-8 with two RBIs.

Trailing by a run, the Crusaders showed their determination to win as Carlton's two-run double with one out in the top of the sixth inning put NNU back on top.

Pesek (6-16) finished off the win with four strikeouts in three innings relief of Watkins, stranding the tying run at third in the bottom of the seventh.

Playing their seventh game in four days – along with driving 620 miles from Nampa, Idaho to Turlock, California on Thursday – NNU ran out of gas in its third game of the day against the Otters, who broke open a 2-0 ballgame with a seven-run rally in the fourth.

Schauer and Morgan Buchanan had a hit each in the loss for NNU.

"We beat two good teams today and just ran out of steam in the third game," Wagner said. "We need to come back tomorrow with the same will to win."