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BILLINGS, Mont. — The Crusaders capped their second-best season in program history with another victory on Saturday, and set the bar high for seasons yet to come.

Cassidy Fifield's two-run double capped a seven-run rally by Northwest Nazarene, which beat host Montana State Billings, 9-5, in the opener of a season-ending Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader.

The Yellowjackets rallied to take the nightcap, 9-1.

"We played really good softball today for 11 innings," NNU head softball coach Rich Wagner said. "The first game we played all areas of the game well.

"In game two we had difficulty staying focused and we made some mental mistakes," NNU's coach added.

Things definitely went well in the opener for NNU (17-29 overall, 11-17 GNAC), which trailed 2-1 headed to the top of the sixth before senior Ali Schauer tied it with a two-out, RBI single, opening the floodgates on a seven-run Crusader charge.

Kylie Orr and Abigail Otto each had a pair of hits in the opening win for NNU, which gave plenty of support to pitchers Kendall Goodwin, Brooke Bonsen and Nicole Arizana. Goodwin (10-12) earned the win and Bonsen got her first save of the season in the victory.

But in the nightcap, it was the 'Jackets who rallied breaking a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with a pair of runs, then finished off the win with a six-run rally in the sixth inning.

"I'm proud of our team for battling today through injuries and finishing this season strong," Wagner said.

With the win in Saturday's opener, the Crusaders matched the program's second-most wins — the 2011 team went 17-30 on the year — and left a young NNU squad, which loses just two seniors in Schauer and Morgan Thome, already thinking about next year.

"I think this whole team wishes we were still playing and now they're ready to start working hard towards a GNAC championship next year," Wagner said.