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NAMPA, Idaho – In a battle of two offenses that have been clicking, the Crusaders came up a bit short.

Montana State Billings grabbed a quick lead on a two-run home run by Taylor Hoke in the top of the first inning, setting the tone for the day as Northwest Nazarene fell 10-1 in five innings and 11-4 to the Yellowjackets in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader at Halle Field on the NNU campus on Friday.

"I think we come back tomorrow and make an adjustment offensively, we can hang," said NNU head softball coach Rich Wagner, whose team hosts MSU Billings in another twinbill on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for noon.

Saturday also is a special day at the softball diamond on the NNU campus as it is Cancer Awareness Day. There will be a special pre-game ceremony starting at 11:45 a.m., and a silent auction to raise money that will go to benefit cancer patients in the Treasure Valley.

On Friday, the Crusaders (7-31, 2-16 GNAC) battled to slow down MSU Billings, which plated two in the first inning and stretched the lead to 5-0 in the second.

Down 7-0 in the bottom of the fourth, NNU responded with back-to-back doubles from Gatalina Schuster and Ali Schauer, getting the Crusaders on the board, but that was all they could muster.

The Yellowjackets (21-18, 11-7) then iced the win with a three-run rally in the top of the fifth.

The MSU Billings offense kept plating runs early in the second game, taking a 3-0 lead in the second, but this time the Crusaders kept pace as a Kiahna Brown RBI double followed by a Morgan Thome single trimmed the difference to 3-2.

But the Crusaders comeback came up short as NNU stranded 11 base-runners in the second game, including leaving the bases loaded in second and third innings.

"I think when you leave the bases loaded two times, it's tough to keep up," Wagner said.

Ashley Pesek and Brown each had a pair of hits in the nightcap for NNU, with Pesek adding a solo home run, as the Crusaders look to continue to hit the ball well and hope to push more runs home in Saturday's upcoming doubleheader.

"We just need to put everything together tomorrow and I think we really have a shot to come out and win two games," Wagner said.