Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

HAYWARD, Calif. — Saturday's non-conference baseball doubleheader was won at the top of the order, as Northwest Nazarene rolled to a 9-2, 9-4 doubleheader sweep over Academy of Art University at Cal State East Bay's Pioneer Field on the bats of its 1-2-3 hitters, clinching a 3-1 series victory.
 
NNU's (7-6) top three hitters in the order went a combined 10-for-20 with 11 runs scored in the two games. Academy of Art University (2-8) also saw most of its success at the top of the order, as ART Us 1-2-3 hitters batted .318, scored four runs and drove in three.
 
GAME ONE
 
The Crusaders' top three hitters got on base 11 total times Saturday in the opener and scored five of their nine runs in the game. NNU infielder Tyler Davis reached a game-high five times, going 1-for-1 with two walks and two hit-by-pitch. NNU still stranded 11 runners in the game while ART U left eight on.
 

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. PacWestBASE ArtSchool A photo posted by Be Artist. Be Athlete. (@artu_knights) on Feb 21, 2015 at 12:08pm PST

Northwest Nazarene took a 1-0 lead in the second with an unearned run on a sacrifice fly. A one-out walk and two-out infield single helped extend the third inning, where Jesse Hilyard and Tucker Campbell drove in three total runs with RBI base hits to give NNU a 4-0 advantage.
 
Single runs in the fifth and sixth made it 6-0 and finally chased ART U sophomore starting pitcher Josh Lopez (0-2), who pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up six runs (five earned) with two strikeouts. NNU starter Jake Reppert (2-0) went eight innings in the win, surrendering one run on six hits with five strikeouts.
 
Junior third baseman Brett Adami drove in the Urban Knights' first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, bringing in junior left fielder Greg Ivory who had led off the inning with a triple to make it 6-1. Adami finished the game 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk. Ivory was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
 
A bases-clearing, three-run triple by Andrew Helmstadter in the eighth inning sealed the win for Northwest Nazarene. Helmstadter led all players with a 3-for-5 performance and four RBIs in game one.
 
GAME TWO
 
Academy of Art fell behind early in the nightcap thanks to three Northwest Nazarene runs in the 1st inning that scored with no base hits in the frame. ART U rallied back, though, tying it with three unanswered runs, the final two coming in the third inning.
 
ART U got a run back in the bottom half of the first inning when Adami brought in junior center fielder Joseph Marchini on an RBI groundout after Marchini had led off the game for the Urban Knights with their second triple of the day, making it 3-1.
The Urban Knights made it a tie game in the third with two unearned runs on two NNU errors in the inning. Senior second baseman Jordan Thomas reached on a fielding error by Campbell to lead off the inning. Ivory hit a one-out single to right, extending his hitting streak to five games and reaching base streak to eight, but a mishandle by the right fielder allowed Thomas to score, making it 3-2 and advancing Ivory to third. Adami then drove in his third run of the day with an RBI groundout to plate Ivory and make it 3-3.
 
Junior relief pitcher Jacob Green allowed the Urban Knights to comeback by throwing four innings of scoreless relief after entering in the first inning for senior starting pitcher Yoshi Uemura. Uemura only faced four batters and allowed all of them to reach before exiting.
 
Green ran into trouble in the fifth after stranding four runners in scoring position through the first four innings. Back-to-back extra-base hits to start the fifth, including an RBI triple by Helmstadter gave Northwest Nazarene back the lead at 4-3 and led to Green's departure.
 
NNU tacked on two runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to come away with the 9-4 victory. Green (0-1) still lowered his ERA by more than half with his four innings of work, allowing two runs on six hits and just one walk. Colben McGuire (2-0) went six innings, giving up four runs (two earned) and striking out three for the win. Andrew Groves pitched the seventh for his second save of the series.
 
Academy of Art opens Pacific West Conference play at home Friday with a four-game series versus Azusa Pacific.