Yellowjackets Swept by Crusaders, 7-3 and 9-4

Game 1
Game 2

BILLINGS, Mont. – Northwest Nazarene swept a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon with 7-3 and 9-4 victories.  The Crusaders won all four games in the series, including a doubleheader Friday.  With the losses, the Yellowjackets are 8-32 on the year and 7-21 in conference play.

Back-to-back-to-back doubles by NNU with the wind blowing out highlighted the first inning as the Crusaders scored two runs on the doubles for a 2-0 lead.  Jon Keller, Connor Rankin and Ryan VanBeek each had extra-base hits.

The Yellowjackets followed suit in the bottom of the frame as Ryan Dennehy led-off the inning with a double and scored on a double from Brian Dukart.  Jaret Chatwood matched the NNU three doubles with the third for the Yellowjackets and Kevin Zukaitis gave MSUB the lead with a two RBI single moments later with nobody out for a 3-2 lead.

NNU regained the lead in the third as Joel Oliver belted a three run home run to left field with two outs giving the Crusaders a 5-3 advantage.

The Crusaders hit a pair of doubles from Sean McDonald and Keller drove McDonald in with two outs in the sixth to swell the lead to three at a 6-3 score.  NNU added a run in the eighth as all seven runs to that point came with two outs.  Tyler Nicholson belted a two out single plating VanBeek off MSUB reliever Tyler Gilder.

Yellowjacket starter, Kyle Gieselman had a pretty solid outing as he went seven innings, allowing 10 hits, six earned runs, two walks and he fanned eight.

J.T. Brodrick went the distance for NNU as he allowed nine hits, three earned runs and he fanned seven as it was his first complete game of the season.  He threw over 130 pitches in the game. 

Dennehy and Dukart each had two hits offensively for the Yellowjackets as the team didn’t have a player with a multiple hit game yesterday.  Keller went 3 for 5 with a run scored and a RBI to lead the Crusaders in the opener.  Oliver was 2 for 5 with three RBI, while VanBeek was 4 for 5 with two runs scored and a RBI.

Three Yellowjacket miscues led to four unearned runs for the Crusaders in the third of the nightcap for a 4-0 lead.

MSUB battled back in the bottom of the frame as Dukart got plunked followed by a single by Kessler and a walk to Chatwood to load the bases.  Two wild pitches from NNU hurler Zeb Sneed plated two runs for a 4-2 score.

Keller belted double to the right field gap, scoring Greg Christensen for a 5-2 lead in the sixth.
Ty Sobieraj doubled home pinch runner Patch Wirtzberger, who ran for Dusty Noraker, in the bottom of the sixth to bring the Yellowjackets to within 5-3. 

Four runs crossed the plate for the Crusaders in the seventh, highlighted by a three run bases clearing double by Keller for a 9-3 lead.

The Yellowjackets plated a run in the bottom of the seventh as Dukart began the frame with an infield single and later advanced to second on an errant throw down to first by the catcher.  Blake Nelson singled up the middle with the bases loaded scoring Dukart for a 9-4 score.

Kessler, Chatwood and Sobieraj each had two hits offensively for the Yellowjakets, while Keller continued his impressive series as he went 3 for 5 with one run scored and drove in four in the nightcap.  For the doubleheader, he went 6 for 10 with two runs scored, four doubles, one triple and five RBI.  For the series, he hit .500 on 9 of 18 with three runs scored, four doubles, one triple and eight RBI.