TURLOCK -- Northwest Nazarene junior Jon Keller did it all Saturday afternoon in leading his team to a victory. Keller pitched a complete game and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Crusaders won the final game of a four-game series, 10-7, at Warrior Field.

Keller threw 167 pitches Saturday and he was still going strong in the ninth as he struck out David Contreras and Jeff Hughes for the final outs of the game. Keller ended with 11 strikeouts and five walks. He gave up seven runs on nine hits to even his season record at 4-4.

Keller also helped himself with his bat. With the game tied 7-7 in the top of the eighth inning, Keller doubled to right field, knocking in Sean McDonald to give the Crusaders an 8-7 lead. A batter later, Keller, himself, would score an insurance run on an RBI single by Connor Rankin, his battery mate behind the plate Saturday, as Northwest Nazarene took a 10-7 lead.

The Crusaders would get an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a deep solo homerun to center field by Ryan VanBeek, who had just entered the game in the previous inning. The Crusaders had tied the game earlier in the inning on a squeeze bunt by Nico Hawes.

The Warriors broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a squeeze bunt of their own off the bat of Chase Perez to go ahead 7-6, and it stayed that way until the Crusaders got three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.

Northwest Nazarene took their first lead of the entire series during the third inning with two unearned runs against Warriors starter Eric Federico. The Crusaders would get two more in the fourth inning to go up 4-0, but that awoke the monsterous Cal State Stanislaus offense.

The Warriors scored six runs on six hits in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. Leandro Dottavio went 2-for-2 with a run scored and two RBIs in that inning alone. He would finish the day 2-for-4. The Warriors started the inning with five straight hits and a walk before an out was recorded. They loaded the bases on three separate occasions in the fourth.

Northwest Nazarene fought back, though, with a run in the fifth and a run in the sixth to tie the game back up at 6-6. Northwest Nazarene had their leadoff batter reach base for six straight innings from the third to the eighth. The Warriors stranded 11 runners Saturday, bringing their four-game series total to 38. That is an average of 1.52 runners stranded per inning in the series.

The Warriors will continue their non-conference homestand at noon Sunday with a doubleheader against NAIA member Oregon Tech.

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