Box Score

AZUSA, Calif. — The host Cougars spoiled Northwest Nazarene's first day in California, and head coach Rocke Musgraves put the blame on his own shoulders.

The Crusaders got a stellar outing on the mound from starter Ross Clevenger and held a 2-1 lead on Azusa Pacific, but couldn't finish off the Cougars who rallied for a 3-2 win in 10 innings in nonconference baseball Thursday night.

"I need to do a better job preparing our guys to compete," Musgraves said. "This one is on me; we'll get there.

"Our players and coaches are working overtime to make this the program that NNU deserves; we will be a good team this year — I like this group — now they need to start demanding a better competitive focus in crunch time," NNU's coach added.

The two teams meet again on Friday starting at 1 p.m. (mountain time) in a doubleheader, then play a single game Saturday at 1 p.m. (MT) to wrap up their four-game, weekend series.

Down 1-0 early, the Crusaders (3-4 overall) rallied as a Colton McCluskey RBI single with two outs in the top of the fourth inning tied the game, then Tyler Davis' first home run of the season in the fifth snapped the tie.

NNU maintained a 2-1 advantage until the bottom of the seventh when the Cougars (3-6) tied it with a one-out RBI base knock.

The Crusaders then managed just one base runner in the next three innings, while Azusa Pacific threatened in the eighth inning, and finally snapped the tie in extra innings with a bases loaded, walk-off wild pitch.

"We are struggling at the plate right now," Musgraves said. "I still think this is going to be a very good offensive club. We just need to win a couple games late to get us over the hump and learn that we can win the pressurized game."

Davis led the NNU offense with a pair of hits, while Clevenger struck out five and scattered six hits in 6 2-3 innings of work on the hill.

Blake Mitchell worked 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out two, while closer Ryan Nyborg (0-1) was saddled with the loss, though he struck out two and gave up just two hits.

"Clevenger, Mitchell and Nyborg competed their tails off tonight," Musgraves said. "They didn't deserve that outcome. I'm proud to call them teammates."