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NAMPA, Idaho — While not the finish to the regular season the Crusaders wanted, the Northwest Nazarene softball team remains hopefully the end has not yet come and gone.

Visiting Western Washington proved once again to be unstoppable at the plate, sweeping a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader, 16-8 and 10-4, to tarnish NNU's "Senior Day" a bit Saturday at Halle Field.

"Kudos, great job Western," said NNU head coach Rich Wagner whose team was outscored 47-28 in a slugfest weekend.

"It's exciting," Wagner added of the Crusaders' regular-season success that includes matching a program record for wins in a single season with a 23-27 overall record, "but it's hard, this team is very competitive and they do not like to lose.

"It just goes back to those game-changing plays, we've got to make those."

While the wins completed a weekend sweep by the Vikings in the regular-season finale for both teams, the Crusaders hope there is more to come.

With its regular season done, Northwest Nazarene (13-15 GNAC) currently sits in fourth place in the GNAC standings and waits to see if it will earn one of the four spot in the GNAC Tournament on May 4-6 hosted by St. Martin's.

The Crusaders fate will be decided Sunday when GNAC regular-season champion Central Washington plays a regular-season ending doubleheader at Western Oregon, which is fifth in the standings. A sweep by CWU and the Crusaders advance to the playoffs for the first time in program history.
 

NNU tried to punch its playoff ticket itself on Saturday, starting the day with a four-run rally in the bottom of the first inning of game one. Kylie Orr belt a two-run home run to right, and Lisa Sylvester and Anna Olson added an RBI each in the charge.

But the Vikings offense never let up on the weekend as WWU (30-17, 19-9) got five runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead for good, then the Vikes padded their one-run lead with a seven-run eruption in the top of the fifth.

NNU didn't give up, though, as Shelbie Martinez singled in two runs, and two more raced home on an Abigail Otto sacrifice foul out, making it a 12-8 ballgame after five innings.

"It's really nice that the girls are hitting, hitting is fun," Wagner said. "Making errors and not playing the other half is frustrating."

And costly, as the Vikings answered the NNU rally with two runs in the top of the sixth, then two more in the seventh to ice the victory.

But the Crusaders kept fighting, starting the nightcap with an RBI sacrifice fly by Orr after a between-game "Senior Day" ceremony honoring Brooke Bonsen, Abigail Watkins and Vicki Kreger.

"I think they set the standard," Wagner said. "I can't say enough about Brooke and Abigail and Vicki, they're hard workers, and the mentality they brought of never giving up changed this program forever."

And while NNU kept working hard and fighting back, they just couldn't stop the Vikings on the weekend as WWU tied it in the top of the second, then tacked on two more in the third, three in the fourth, and four more in the fifth.

The Crusaders battled, as a solo home run by Lisa Sylvester in the fifth made it a 6-2 ballgame, and an RBI double off the bat of Brittany Genuardi, then a run-scoring single by Martinez, made it a 10-4 ballgame before NNU ran out of runs.

Leaving the Crusaders in wait-and-see mode for Sunday's game results, which will determine if NNU's best season since 2006 will continue with a first-ever playoff berth for the program.