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NAMPA, Idaho — Kyle Redford's first career home run couldn't have been bigger.

The sophomore from Meridian High School made up for one Crusader missed chance with the biggest swing of his college career so far, blasting a three-run home run into the netting above the left-field wall at Elmore Vail Field to give Northwest Nazarene an 11-8 walk-off win over visiting St. Martin's in 11 innings.

Redford then added his second home run in a matter of hours, blasting one of NNU's four homers in one inning in a 13-5 rout of the Saints as the Crusaders completed a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep Saturday afternoon.

"He's one of those guys — how many balls does he hit a mile high to the warning track?" NNU head coach Rocke Musgraves said of Redford. "He was getting some really good looks at it, it wasn't a matter of if, but a matter of when."

Redford's heroic walk-off homer was the culmination of a dramatic comeback for the Crusaders (10-10 overall, 8-4 GNAC), who trailed 3-0 early and 8-3 midway through the game.

Andrew Helmstadter's three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning tied the game, 3-3 early, then Colton McCluskey hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning that made it an 8-7 ballgame.

There it stayed until the bottom of the ninth, when the Crusaders found themselves down to their final two outs.
 

In stepped senior Oregon State transfer Billy King who completed the second NNU comeback of the game with one swing, blasting his third home run as a Crusader into the trees beyond the right-field fence, sending the game to extra innings.

NNU's bullpen quartet of Bryan Black, Brennan Patterson, Nick Bland and Brady Baker teamed up to give the Crusaders the chance to rally with 6 2-3 innings of scoreless relief, and NNU did just that — rally.

The Crusaders loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10^th, but Saints reliever Adam Eskil escaped the jam to send the game into the 11^th.

Baker (3-0), who earned the win, kept St. Martin's from building any momentum from the defensive stop, setting the stage for Redford's walk-off as an error extended the inning.

With runners at the corner, the Meridian High product stepped in and launched a blast over the wall in left, setting off a wild celebration at home plate for NNU.

The Crusaders then rode that momentum to an 8-0 lead in the nightcap as a two-run Helmstadter double to center highlighted a five-run rally in the second inning.

The Saints (7-13, 4-8) chipped away with a run in the fourth and four more in the sixth inning before NNU erupted with a long-ball barrage in the bottom of the sixth.

Casey Sheehan and King hit back-to-back solo homers, Redford blasted his second collegiate homer — a two-run shot — then Jarod Gonzales capped the onslaught with the second back-to-back homers for NNU in the rally.
 
"We've been waiting for our hitters to hit one of those streaks," Musgraves said, "we've just been missing a lot of balls, and I thought we hit a lot of balls right at people. When you do that you start questioning yourself, even though you're doing a good job, so I was proud of our guys of sticking with it, sticking with it.

"Instead of talking yourself into a slump, just keep doing what you're doing and some good things start to happen."

The home run onslaught not only gave the Crusaders a comfortable lead en route to the sweep, but NNU finished with eight home runs in the twinbill and 11 long balls in the four-game series.

Riding that offensive high, NNU now prepares to host back-to-back non-conference games against 16-time NAIA National Champion Lewis-Clark State on Monday and Tuesday at Elmore Vail Field.