Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

PORTLAND, Ore. — Rolling toward a sweep, the Crusaders came up one innings short Thursday on the road.

After cruising to a 12-3 rout in of host Concordia in five innings in the opener of a make-up Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader, the Northwest Nazarene softball team came oh so close to the sweep before the Cavaliers rallied for a 4-3, extra-inning win in the nightcap.  

"We played really good softball today," NNU head softball coach Rich Wagner said. "Our girls battled offensively all day at the plate and had some big hits in the first game."

In the opener, a three-run home run from Ali Schauer in the top of the third inning capped a five-run Crusader charge, as NNU grabbed a 5-1 lead.

NNU (14-20 overall, 8-8 GNAC) then put the win away with another five-run rally in the fifth, an inning highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Kylie Orr for a 12-3 lead.

Brooke Bonsen (8-8) earned the win in the circle for NNU, while Lily Paschal and Schauer each had two hits and Orr went 3-for-3 with five RBIs. Orr finished the twinbill 7-of-8 with 5 RBIs, a home run and four runs scores.

The Crusader offense picked up where it left off in the nightcap as a two-run Abigail Otto single to right-center gave NNU a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Abigail Watkins pitched four scoreless innings, making the lead hold up, and NNU added a run on a Madalyn Smith RBI fielder's choice in the top of the sixth, putting the Crusaders on the verge of a sweep.

Looking for more, the Crusaders loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but couldn't plate anything, missing a chance to ice the win.

"In the top of the seventh in game two we lost focus and didn't execute with the bases loaded and that cost us," Wagner said.

The Cavaliers (21-16, 6-6) managed to rally for three runs in the bottom of the seventh, forcing extra innings, then host Concordia pushed home the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth inning to split the twinbill.

"I thought all of our pitchers did a good job keeping us in the game," NNU's coach said. "We needed one out to finish the day and we came up short.

"We are excited to get back out on the field tomorrow," Wagner added, as NNU is back in action at St. Martin's on Friday in the first of back-to-back GNAC doubleheaders against the first-place Saints.