Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Crusaders offense never came around, and in the end it cost Northwest Nazarene a ballgame.

NNU batters struck out 25 times on the day in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader at Montana State Billings, as the Crusaders rode the arms of Jaramy Jacobs, Blake Mitchell and Ryan Nyborg to one win on the day, 2-1, over the host Yellowjackets.

MSU Billings rallied to take the nightcap, 8-4.

"We had a tough time at the plate today," NNU head baseball coach Rocke Musgraves said. "I think we punched out 25 times.

"We seem to always be hitting with two strikes, which means we are either taking or fouling off good pitches to hit early in the count. I'd like to see us be more confident in our approach and believe in what we are looking for."

Despite the offensive woes, NNU (21-15 overall, 16-10 GNAC) got just enough in the opener for the win as Josh Hatfield led off the top of the third inning with a solo home run, and Brett Nielsen added an RBI single in the frame.

Given a 2-0 lead, Jacobs (4-5) held on through six innings for the win, then Mitchell and Nyborg finished off the final three scoreless innings, with Nyborg picking up his seventh save this season. 

"In game one we threw some very competitive pitches," Musgraves said. "Jaramy Jacobs has had a couple nice outings in a row."

It looked like the Crusader attack was awakening in the second game as a Ryan Johnson lead-off triple followed by a Hatfield RBI double gave them a 1-0 lead two batters into the contest.

But from there, the attack stalled until a five-run third inning for MSU Billings (18-16, 12-13) put NNU into comeback mode.

Tucker Campbell had an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth, and Tyler Davis hit a solo homer in a two-run fifth, but the closest NNU got was 6-4 down in the loss.

NNU remains in Montana through the weekend and resumes its four-game series with the Yellowjackets with a doubleheader Monday at 1 p.m.