NAMPA, Idaho – It may have been a few games of basketball that saved the Northwest Nazarene University baseball team's season.

Mired in an 11-game losing streak, the Nighthawks played some pickup ball on their recent road trip at Saint Martin's on the off day.

The next day they beat the Saints three times and Friday they earned a hard-fought split with Concordia, dropping the opener 9-6 before rallying for a 7-6 win in the nightcap.
Just like that, NNU has four conference wins and is in fourth place.

"We were all playing basketball and getting after one another and laughing and having fun," said Parker Price. "It was just one of those team moments and everything started to click. Now we are on this big run."

Price was a key contributor Friday, ripping an RBI double up the right-center field gap to tie the nightcap at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Two batters later Zach Penrod singled him home with the go-ahead run.

"He threw me a first pitch breaking ball and I was looking for it again," Price said. "He doubled up on it and luckily it landed in the perfect spot and I was able to get the job done."

The Nighthawks scored twice in the fifth and twice in the sixth to get the win, as Jesse Hilyard pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. He gave up one hit and struck out three.

"I just tried to throw strikes and let them put it in play," he said. "Just tried to hit my spots and put it where they could get marginal contact and it worked out for us."
NNU and Concordia play another doubleheader Saturday with first pitch scheduled for noon.

In the nightcap, the Nighthawks jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third inning thanks to a two-run single by Penrod and a run-scoring triple by Justin Folz. Folz was actually thrown out at the plate trying to make it an inside the park home run.

The wheels came off a bit in the fifth, as Concordia knocked starter Greg Casper out of the game after a double and a strikeout. Reliever Ryan Mets then gave up a pair of singles to make it 3-2 before being pulled for Penrod.

Penrod tried a pickoff play at first and the ball went up the right-field line allowing the tying run to score. He came back and struck out the next batter, but then gave up a run-scoring triple to right. An error and two more singles made it 6-3 and had runners at first and second when Hilyard came in and slammed the door shut.

"It's awesome and hopefully it jumpstarts the rest of the pitching staff," Hilyard said of getting the win. "I know everyone we have can do it and hopefully this brings confidence to them to keep rolling and moving forward."

NNU got two back in the bottom half of the inning on two-out, two-run single by Ryan Connor through the left side.

Price finished 3-for-4 with two runs, the double and a stolen base and Penrod was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Casper struck out five in 4 1/3 innings in his first start of the season, allowing two runs on four hits.

"It's great to have a crowd that comes out and you go out and get the win for them," Price said.

In the opener, Concordia scored four times in the first and NNU answered with four of its own. The teams traded single runs in the second, before the Cavaliers pulled away with two in the third and one in the fourth and fifth.

Casey Sheehan had a two-run single, Penrod an RBI triple and then he scored on a wild pitch in the first inning.

In the second inning, Price hit a sacrifice fly to re-tie the score at 5-5.

But the Nighthawks pitching couldn't keep the Cavaliers at bay.

Starter Brennan Patterson suffered the loss, allowing eight runs – seven earned – on 12 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Blake McFadde was sharp in relief, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Kyle Redford was 2-for-4 with a run and a double, Penrod was 1-fof-5 with a triple, Price hit a pair of sacrifice flies, Connor was 3-for-4, Bennett Tabaracci was 2-for-4 and Dylan Cure was 2-for-4.

"I think we're limiting our mistakes and minimizing other teams from scoring," Hilyard said of the team's recent success. "Our offense is good enough that they are going to put up a lot of runs most of the time, and our pitching staff is going to figure it out sooner or later."

There was a scary moment as well as two Concordia players collided on a long fly out to right center. The right fielder, Isaiah Hatch had his forehead cut open by his teammates cleat. He was forced to leave the game with a gash on his head.