Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BRISBANE, Calif. — The magic number was three for the Urban Knights on Monday, a number that twice spoiled the day for the Northwest Nazarene softball team.

The Academy of Art used a 3-run rally in each game to provide the difference in two tight contests against the visiting Crusaders, sweeping the teams' nonconference doubleheader with matching 5-1 victories.

"I think 17 hours on the bus yesterday had a little bit to do with our slow start in game one," NNU head coach Rich Wagner said.  
"After the third inning of game one we had runners on base all day," NNU's coach added, "we the ball hard right at defenders eight or nine times, and three of those turned into inning ending double plays with multiple runners on base. If those balls find grass we are looking at a different outcome today.

"We still need our offense, pitching and defense to play a complete 21 outs. When we do that we will see a lot of success. 

"In game two Rylee Thomas pitched a great game."

The Urban Knights grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of the day's opener, but the Crusaders (2-7 overall) clamped down and kept the score there until the first 3-run rally of the day.

A lead-off triple by Jessica West sparked the charge in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Academy of Art pushed its advantage to 4-0.  

NNU answered in its next at-bat as Cassidy Fifield doubled and scored on a Brittany Genuardi sacrifice fly to right, but that was all the Crusaders could muster offensively as Abigail Otto added a base knock and Fifield also had a triple to lead NNU's attack.

Looking to turn things around in the nightcap, the Crusaders scored first as Genuardi's two-out RBI single in the top of the third inning put the Urban Knights (3-3) in a 1-0 hole.

The Academy of Art responded in the bottom of the third with a game-tying run, setting the stage for another game-changing, 3-run rally.

This time it came in the bottom of the fifth, a rally aided by a pair of NNU errors that allowed all three runs to come home after the third out could have been recorded.

Rylee Thomas took the hard-luck loss as she gave up just one earned run in the complete-game effort, while Fifield and Rae Young each had a pair of hits in the second game to lead the NNU attack.

The Crusaders continue a 6-game road trip to the California Bay Area with another doubleheader on Tuesday, playing at San Francisco State with first-pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. (Mountain time).