Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

PORTLAND, Ore. — After taking a blow on Friday, the Crusaders struck back like champions Saturday on the road.

The Northwest Nazarene baseball team maintain its grasp on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference lead by battling back to sweep a GNAC doubleheader at Concordia, 9-4 and 8-6 on Saturday, splitting the four-game series hosted by the Cavaliers.

"We showed a lot of moxie today," NNU head baseball coach Rocke Musgraves said. "When someone struggled it always seemed like there was somebody to pick them up.

"A bounce-back attitude is vital in this game," added NNU's coach as his Crusaders fell 8-4 and 3-2 on Friday. "If you don't have the ability to bounce back, this game will eat you alive mentally. We showed that bounce-back fire today."

NNU (18-12 overall, 13-7 GNAC) bounced back with an early offensive rally, plating four runs in the top of the fourth inning as Andrew Helmstadter, Jesse Hilyard and Brady Baker each had an RBI single and Kyle Redford added an RBI groundout.

Brett Nielsen and Baker added an RBI single each in the fifth, putting the Crusaders on top 6-0, and after seeing the lead trimmed down to 6-4, NNU plated three in the top of the ninth to ice the opening win of the twinbill.

Ryan Johnson, Tyler Davis, Helmstadter and Baker each had three hits for NNU in the opener, while starter Ross Clevenger (3-1) earned the win with five strong innings on the hill. Blake Mitchell also picked up his second save of the year, going four innings in relief.

The nightcap proved to be a much different contest for the Crusaders, who used a four-run rally in the top of the fifth inning to erase a 2-0 deficit.

Johnson had an RBI single to get NNU on the board, then Davis doubled home two more and Joe Siegel put NNU on top 4-2 with an RBI single.

Concordia promptly answered with three runs in the bottom half of the frame, forcing another four-run surge by the Crusaders, who got two-run doubles from Helmstadter and Spencer Pollock in the top of the sixth.

NNU held on from there as Ryan Nyborg (3-1) struck out five in 2 2-3 innings of relief to earn the win.

Johnson, Helmstadter and Josh Hatfield each had a pair of hits in the victory for the Crusaders, who are back on the road for their second of three consecutive road trips, playing doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday at St. Martin's.

"We will go back to the drawing board this week on getting opposing lead-off hitters out, and as hitters, using our outs to score runs," said Musgraves, whose team holds a two-game lead on second-place Central Washington at the midway point in the GNAC season.