NAMPA, Idaho – The Northwest Nazarene baseball team was swept by Montana State Billings in its GNAC home openers Friday, falling 13-6 in the first game and 4-1 in the nightcap.

Ben Johnson was sharp again on the mound for the Nighthawks, allowing two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven. He was the hard-luck loser, though, as the NNU offense struggled with runners in scoring position.

"We had plenty of opportunities and just couldn't score a run," NNU coach Joe Schaefer said. "We couldn't come up with a competitive at bat with runners in scoring position."

NNU loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second and then popped up three consecutive times allowing Billings to escape. In the bottom of the third, the Nighthawks had second and third with one out but a strikeout and a fly out ended that threat.

In the sixth, Rocco Ferrari hit a one-out double but was stranded and in the final inning, NNU loaded the bases with no outs but were only able to score one run.

"Ben pitched really well again," Schaefer said. "He continues to pitch well every week, but we just didn't do a good job offensively that second game."

In the opener, the Yellowjackets showed off their power, hitting five home runs in the first four innings to jump out to a 9-2 lead after four.

The Nighthawks (7-7 overall, 3-3 GNAC) rallied to within 9-6 thanks to a Michael Hults two-run double and runs on an error and a wild pitch.

A four-spot in the top of the ninth ended any hopes of a rally, though.

NNU hosts Billings (3-11, 3-3) for another doubleheader at 12 p.m. Saturday.

"Their kind of offense, if you leave balls up they will hit it over the fence," Schaefer said. "We have to keep the ball down tomorrow and if we can do that, we can have success. But we have to have some team at bats with runners in scoring position or we will have a hard time scoring runs."

In the opener, Kyle Redford was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Shawn Grandmont and Hults added doubles.

In the nightcap, Parker Price drove in the lone run as the Nighthawks managed just six hits.