Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Crusaders traded blows like a heavyweight champion with the highly-ranked Lancers, but in the end, host Cal Baptist landed the last punch each time.

Trading runs and leads all day long, the Northwest Nazarene baseball team came up just short in both halves of a nonconference doubleheader, falling 13-10 and 6-4 to the eighth-ranked Lancers.

"Our at-bats were much better today," NNU head baseball coach Rocke Musgraves said.

"Even though we lost today I thought we started to do things right," NNU's coach added. "We cut down on our walks today; now if we can get rid of those nasty lead-off walks we'll be set."

In the opener, the Crusaders (2-6 overall) grabbed leads of 2-1 and 5-3, and tied the game late at 10-10, but just couldn't put up with an all-important "goose egg" at crucial times to fend off the Lancers (7-3).

A six-run rally in the sixth inning by the hosts erased NNU's largest lead of the day — 5-3 — and after an Andrew Helmstadter RBI sacrifice fly and a Brett Nielsen RBI double in the top of the eighth tied it at 10-10, CBU won it with a three-run rally in its half of the inning.

Nielsen swung a smokin' hot bat for NNU, going 5-for-5 with three doubles, a home run and five RBIs in the opener, while Matt Lightfoot, Jarod Gonzales and Colton McCluskey also drove in a run each for the Crusaders.

The nightcap was less offensive-minded, though the teams once again traded runs and leads, with a Lightfoot two-run single and a Tim Jones RBI base knock giving the Crusaders a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth.

But like the opener, the Lancers managed to answer, plating three in their half of the inning and tacking on an insurance run in the sixth.

NNU's Lightfoot — who went 3-for-4 in the nightcap and was 5-for-8 on the day — doubled and scored on an error to close the gap to 6-4, but with the tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh inning the Crusader comeback came up just short.

Spencer Pollock added a 2-for-2 performance at the plate in the nightcap for NNU, which now gets 14 days off before returning to the diamond to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Concordia on March 3.