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NAMPA, Idaho — Colton Loomis dominated and coach Rocke Musgraves couldn't have summed up his performance any better.

"I tell you what, with him, his ball moves so much people run out of bat," Musgraves said of Loomis, who set the tone for the Crusaders in the nightcap of a doubleheader split with St. Martin's on Friday at Elmore Vail Field on the NNU campus.

Loomis, who two weeks earlier threw the fifth no-hitter in Northwest Nazarene baseball history, threw a three-hitter at the Saints on opening day of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season for both teams, leading the Crusaders to an 8-0 victory after NNU fell 10-6 to start the day.

Loomis (3-1) has allowed just two runs in 25 2-3 innings this season for NNU, and he needed to be on his game Friday as he locked up with the Saints' Josh Sontag in a gem of a pitcher's duel through 5 ½ innings.
 

But a lead-off double by Tucker Campbell in the bottom of the sixth inning finally got NNU (6-6 overall, 1-1 GNAC) rolling against Sontag, who gave up a run on a balk and another on a Tyler Davis RBI double, opening the floodgates.

Thirteen Crusaders stepped up to the plate in an eight-run onslaught that made the seventh and final inning of the contest and easy one for Loomis.

"This last week we've spent time on the last two innings," Musgraves said, "learning how to make the mental adjustments to compete the last two innings. I thought we did that, and after we scored we kept scoring instead of saying, 'hey, it's over.'"

The big rally salvage a win for NNU after the Saints (4-8, 1-1) made a late charge in the opener to steal the victory.

A two-run homer by Davis in the bottom of the first inning put the Crusaders on top in the opener, but SMU tied it with a pair of runs in the third.

NNU promptly answered with RBI doubles from Davis and Josh Hatfield in their half of the frame before a Jesse Hilyard two-run blast spotted the Crusaders to a 6-2 advantage.

But the Saints tied it in the sixth with a four-run rally, then plated two in the seventh and a solo run in each of the eighth and ninth innings to steal the win late.

"We pressed," Musgraves said of the Crusaders inability to finish the opener. "(St. Martin's) started scoring and we pressed.

"You start changing your process, you start getting nervous, you start pressing, that's not what got us there," NNU's coach added.

Davis led NNU's offense, going 3-for-7 with four RBIs and a home run in the twinbill, while Andrew Helmstadter added a 3-for-6, two RBI day for the Crusaders, who host the Saints again Saturday in another doubleheader at Elmore Vail Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.