NAMPA, Idaho – Like many American fathers and sons, Adam Paulson and his dad Mike grew up playing catch in the backyard.

Mike hit his son groundballs, fly balls and played catch.

So it makes sense that when Adam Paulson takes the mound for what might be the last start of his collegiate career Friday ­— his dad will be at the top of his mind.

Unfortunately, Mike won't be there. He passed away of a heart attack at the age of 46, two weeks before Adam graduated from high school.

"Baseball has been that one piece that has kept that connection with him," Paulson said. "He did all this work to where I could play college baseball, but he never got to see me play. That was hard, especially early on."

Paulson expects to have 15-20 family and friends in attendance for his start Friday against Western Oregon. The Nighthawks are one game behind Concordia for the final postseason spot, so wins are necessary for the season to be extended.

Paulson keeps reminders of his father all around him. The right-handed pitcher has a tattoo of a baseball with the day his dad died written on it. He also writes his dad's name out in the dirt before each start, he has a marking on his glove honoring his dad and he wears his father's No. 17.

"It is always a reminder that when things aren't going well, that this isn't the worst thing that is going on," he said. "There is way worse things that could be happening."

Paulson graduated from tiny Medical Lake High School located 15 miles west of Spokane. He started his collegiate career at Midland University in Nebraska, but a coaching change and being so far from home led him to transferring to Spokane Falls Community College.

After a year in Spokane he transferred to Lewis Clark State, but the writing was on the wall that he wasn't going to get much playing time because he didn't throw as hard as his teammates.

So he ended up in Nampa and started right away for the Nighthawks. After a rough end to the season and some struggles in fall ball, he began his senior campaign in the bullpen but has worked his way back into the rotation recently.

"He has accepted whatever role we have given him," NNU coach Rocke Musgraves said. "Throughout the course of the year, he has increased his innings because he gets outs plain and simple. He is not the kind of guy who is going to throw real hard, but he is a guy who can locate and he has a really good slider."

Paulson threw a 10-inning masterpiece against Western Oregon in a game NNU ended up losing 3-2 in 14 innings. He then threw a nine-inning complete game against Central Washington with eight strikeouts and one earned run, and then a three-hit shutout last weekend against Concordia.

"He is pounding the zone at an all-time rate," fellow senior Larsson Chapman said. "He's not walking anybody, he is low in the zone and he is making quality strikes. He is locating and hitting the catcher's glove.

"He has a game plan every time he goes out on the mound and he is executing it perfectly right now."

Paulson, a business management major, was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference pitcher of the week for his performance against Concordia and he hopes to have at least one more stellar start up his sleeve Friday.

"I know it is going to be an emotional weekend," he said. "All my family will be here and everything will be heightened a little bit.

"I've had moments these last couple of weeks where I know I only have one or two of these left, so hopefully we can extend my career by a few games."