Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

TURLOCK, Calif. – Once again the Northwest Nazarene softball team showed how good they are, but on Saturday, the Crusaders efforts came up one run shy.

After winning 2-of-3 to open play in the Tournament of Champions hosted by Cal State Stanislaus on Friday, the Crusaders battled hard against Sonoma State (Calif.) and Hawaii Hilo only to come up short on Saturday, falling 9-8 and 6-5, respectively.

And it was an oh-so-close day as NNU (6-26, 1-11 GNAC) stranded the tying run on base in the seventh inning in each contest.

"This weekend was some of the best softball we have played all year," NNU head softball coach Rich Wagner said. "We came very close to winning two games today against two really good teams.

"We are swinging the bats with a lot of confidence and that is carrying over to our defense and pitching," NNU's coach added.

In the opener against the Seawolves, NNU came out swinging after spotting Sonoma State a 5-0 lead.

A Whitney Carlton RBI double followed by a two-run Brianna Kinghorn double got the Crusaders on the board, down 5-3 in the third inning, then a two-run home run by Ashley Pesek got NNU as close as 6-5 down in the fourth.

The Seawolves stretched the lead to 9-5 headed into the seventh, but a Kiahna Brown three-run homer made it interesting, even more so when Alyssa Nitschelm singled, putting the tying run aboard.

But the comeback ran out of steam and NNU left Nitschelm stranded on the bases, coming up just a run shy against a team that topped NNU 15-4 back in February in a tournament in Las Vegas.

Looking to close on a high note, NNU once again found itself playing catch-up against Hawaii Hilo in its tournament finale, but a two-run Carlton single and an error helped the Crusaders close to 4-3 down in the third inning against the Vulcans.

A Carlton sacrifice fly tied in, chasing home Nitschelm in the fourth, but Hawaii Hilo tacked on two more in the sixth for a 6-4 lead.

An RBI single by the Crusaders' Lisa Sylvester cut the difference to a single run before Kinghorn singled in the seventh, putting the tying run aboard for NNU, which once again came up just short, stranding the tying run at first.

Carlton and Nitschelm each collected two hits apiece in both games to lead the offense for NNU, which after playing nine games in five days gets a bit of rest before playing back-to-back doubleheaders at GNAC foe Simon Fraser this coming Friday and Saturday.