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PORTLAND, Ore. — Freshman Tanner Vogt got the chance to be a hero Friday afternoon and didn't let the opportunity slip away.

Vogt ripped a game-winning, two-run double into the left-center gap that gave Northwest Nazarene a 5-3 win in eight innings over Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader on the campus of Concordia University.

"Tanner Vogt hasn't seen a lot of action, but every day he has steadily gotten better at practice," NNU head baseball coach Rocke Musgraves said. "He got his shot today and came up big."

Vogt's game-winner helped the Crusaders (11-9 overall, 6-4 GNAC) salvage an important split of the day's twinbill as the Wolves took the opener, 6-1. The two teams meet again Saturday on the Concordia campus in another GNAC doubleheader.

"We did a good job of recovering from an extremely poor effort in the first game," Musgraves said, adding of starting pitcher Jaramy Jacobs "he competed well in game one, but we didn't back him up defensively.

"Making excuses doesn't win ball games," the Crusader skipper added.

But clutch hits do, proven by Vogt's double with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth after the Wolves forced extra innings with a solo run in the bottom of the seventh in the seven-inning contest.

That made sure a strong effort in the nightcap wasn't spoiled as Andrew Helmstadter had an RBI single in the top of the first inning, Josh Hatfield plated a run in the second, and Spencer Pollock had an RBI double in the top of the third for the Crusaders, who led 3-2 early.

Colton Loomis (4-2) battled his way to the win on the hill, striking out three and scattering eight hits in the eight-inning victory.

"Loomis pitched through some rough waters and once again gave us a chance to win," Musgraves said, adding, "in extra innings we had some quality at bats."

But after the Wolves tied it in the seventh, Loomis and the Crusaders needed one more clutch base knock to grab the victory.

It looked like things might go NNU's way in the opener, as well, as Brady Baker's two-out double put the Crusaders up 1-0 in the top of the first inning.

But the Wolves tied it in the fourth, took the lead in the sixth, then a three-run seventh helped iced the opening victory.

Tyler Davis, Tucker Campbell, Pollock and Baker each had a base hit in the opener for NNU, while Helmstadter went 3-for-4 and Ryan Johnson was 2-for-4 in the nightcap.