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LAS VEGAS — Two out of three ain't bad.

The Crusader softball team got their season off to a great start Friday as a youthful and talented Northwest Nazarene squad nearly swept a trio of games at the Desert Stinger Classic hosted by Montana State Billings.

NNU started the day with a stellar pitching effort from the freshmen duo of Kendall Goodwin and Nicole Arizana who shut down Minot State (N.D.) for a 3-1 win.

The Crusaders then got a complete-game effort from junior-college transfer Brooke Bonsen, and a timely late rally, to top Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 4-3, on Friday afternoon.

It looked like it might be a sweep on a long day for NNU (2-1 overall) until a late rally by Cal State Dominguez Hills helped the Toros score an 11-9 comeback win late Friday.

"We did a great job today finding ways to win," NNU head softball coach Rich Wagner said. "We won two close games and put ourselves in a position to win the third game.
 
"Our defense and pitching was great in two games."

"In the third game our pitching struggled, but our bats came alive and gave us a chance to win," NNU's coach added.

"We played really well today and have a lot of areas we can improve in, that's exciting."

Against the Beavers in the opener, Kiahna Brown got NNU rolling with an RBI single for a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Freshman Kylie Orr knocked in her first collegiate RBI in the second inning with a run-scoring grounder, then freshman Cassidy Fifield singled in a run in the top of the sixth, giving the Crusaders a 3-0 lead.

Plenty of support for Goodwin (1-0), who struck out three and gave up just two hits in her collegiate debut as she pitched the first six innings.

Arizana then came on and picked up her first collegiate save, striking out one in a scoreless seventh.

In its second game of the day, NNU rode the arm of Bonsen (1-1), who struck out five and held the Cougars to a single run in each of the first, second and sixth innings.

Down 3-2 headed to the bottom of the sixth, Shelbie Martinez led off with a single and Anna Olson walked, igniting a Crusader rally.

Abigail Otto then singled, loading the bases for Lily Paschal who plated the tying and winning runs with a grounder to second.

Martinez went 3-for-3 and Fifield was 3-for-4 in the win.

Against the Toros in the Crusaders nightcap, Orr knocked in a pair of runs in the third, igniting an NNU comeback from an early 3-0 deficit.

Paschal, Fifield and Ali Schauer each had an RBI before a two-run double off the bat of Lisa Sylvester made it a 7-3 ballgame in the fourth inning for NNU.

But a seven-run rally in the bottom of the fifth put the Toros back on top and they hung on as the Crusaders put runners at second and third with one out in the top of the seventh, but couldn't score.

Fifield finished going 4-for-5 in the loss and was 8-for-13 on the day, while Orr and Madalyn Smith each had two hits in the nightcap for the Crusaders, who play Western New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands in the tournament on Saturday.