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NAMPA, Idaho — Two dominating pitching performances and a huge offensive explosion got the Crusaders a win, but also left them oh so close to a sweep.

Starters Jaramy Jacobs and Colton Loomis dazzled on the hill, combining to strike out 20 Montana State Billings batters, and Northwest Nazarene's offense erupted with a 10-run rally.

Still, at the end of the day NNU settled for a split of its Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader at Elmore Vail Field, beating the visiting Yellowjackets 12-4 to start the day before falling 3-2 in the nightcap on Friday.

"I told the guys after this, that was a good day of baseball," NNU head baseball coach Rocke Musgraves said. "I feel like we're starting to get to this point where we're playing to win and not to not lose at the end of some close games.

"So I was proud of my guys for that."

The opener was close late — a pitcher's duel believe it or not — as Tanner Johnson had a three-hit shutout for the first five innings for the 'Jackets, while NNU's Jacobs faced one batter over the limit until the sixth.

Then, MSU Billings broke the scoreless tie with a run on an error and another on a sacrifice fly.

Evidently upsetting the Crusaders (9-7 overall, 4-2 GNAC), who took out their anger on the baseball with a crushing 10-run rally in the bottom of the sixth.

Tyler Davis started the onslaught, launching a solo home run over the right-field fence, the first of three NNU long-balls in the inning.
 

Brett Nielsen added a three-run bomb to left — his first hit of the season — and Ryan Johnson blasted a three-run homer to left, capping the rally and giving Jacobs a commanding 10-2 advantage.

"I think we went up there to drive the baseball instead of just making contact, so that was kind of nice to see," Musgraves said. "We've got some kids that can hit it a long ways, and you don't hit it a long ways unless you try to hit it. I had some guys get up there with a little bit of intent tonight, so that's nice to see."

Plenty of offense for Jacobs (2-2) who struck out nine and gave up four runs on three hits in seven innings work before turning it over to the bullpen, one of the junior lefties best outings of the season.

"He was 88 to 90 (mph) tonight, with a change-up and the breaking ball," Musgraves said of Jacobs. "When he's got those three going, man it's awful tough to hit and square him up.

"He made a couple adjustments this week with his motion, kind of with his tempo, and I think we've got him back to where he needs to be, and he was spot-on tonight."

Nearly as good was Loomis (3-2) in the nightcap as he struck out 11 'Jacket batters in the complete-game, seven-inning effort.

But MSU Billings (8-7, 2-4) managed to push home two runs in the top of the second inning and a solo run in the third, snapping a streak of 19 scoreless innings pitched by Loomis.

NNU tried to rally, getting a Tim Jones RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second and a solo homer by Colton McCluskey in the bottom of the third, but the MSU Billings staff managed to strand three more Crusader base-runners from there to preserved the win and earn a split on the day.

"Loomis gave us a chance to win tonight, but I think we need to appreciate bases," Musgraves said, "we just didn't appreciate bases on defense tonight."

Andrew Helmstadter went 4-for-6 in the twinbill to lead the Crusader offense, while Josh Hatfield was 3-for-5 in the opener and Davis hit two homers and drove in four runs in the first game, as well.

NNU and the Yellowjackets return to the diamond on Saturday to play another GNAC doubleheader at Elmore Vail Field with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.