NAMPA, Idaho – There is just something about the Northwest Nazarene baseball team this year.

They refuse to lose.

The Nighthawks were picked to finish fifth out of six teams in the preseason coaches poll. They'd lost two of their best returning players to transfers and the majors. And they had a new coaching staff.

Despite all the disruption, NNU (17-14 overall, 13-10 GNAC) is in third place and just one game behind Western Oregon for second.

"Our team is relentless," NNU senior Jesse Hilyard said. "There is never any quit, there is never any doubt when we are down in a game."

That was showcased Friday. NNU rallied twice, winning the opener 11-8 and the nightcap 4-3 against Concordia (11-24, 9-17).

In the first game, NNU trailed 6-0 after the top of the first. In the second game, they trailed 3-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

Both times the Nighthawks rallied.

NNU scored five runs in the first inning of the opener to quickly get back in that game as Kyle Redford blasted a three-run home run and Rocco Ferrari and Shawn Grandmont added run-scoring singles.

Bennett Tabaracci hit a solo shot in the second and Hilyard had an RBI single to tie the game at 7-7. The Nighthawks took the lead for good in the sixth on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Dylan Cure.

"We're just really good on chemistry," Tabaracci said. "We are all good buddies and we believe in each other. We know that anyone can come in at any point and they're going to perform. I think that is awesome and way different than last year."

Ben Johnson threw five shutout innings in relief to earn his fourth win of the season, while Hilyard was 3-for-5 with an RBI, Grandmont was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a triple, Tabaracci, Redford, Parker Price, Cure, Larsson Chapman and Ferrari all had two hits apiece.

"I've been a part of a lot of teams that would've just rolled over and died after giving up six in the first," NNU coach Joe Schaefer said. "But these guys know we are capable of scoring runs. For them to bounce back with a five spot in the bottom of the first was huge. From there, they just grinded out the rest of the game."

In the nightcap, Cooper Webster didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning when Concordia scratched a run across.

NNU tied it up on a Kyle Redford RBI triple to right center, but the Cavaliers seemed to take command of the game in the seventh.

Webster wore down and walked the first two batters. Jalen Fuhriman came on in relief and after a sacrifice bunt and a fly out, he gave up a soft single to center to score two runs.

But as they have all season, the Nighthawks rallied.

Grandmont started with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Johnson, pinch hitting, then reached on an error by the second baseman.

Tabaracci followed with a double up the left-center gap scoring Grandmont and pinch-runner Greg Casper to tie the game.

Price then reached on a fielder's choice and after an intentional walk to Redford to load the bases, Hilyard hit an 0-2 pitch to centerfield for a walk-off sacrifice fly.

"There is never any quit in this team," Hilyard said. "We knew going in that we had the top of the lineup coming up and we have been competitive this whole year in this series, so we had a good feeling."

Fuhriman (3-1) earned the win in relief, while Webster's final line was three runs on two hits with six walks and six strikeouts in six innings.

Tabaracci was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Redford and Hilyard had NNU's only other two hits.

The teams meet again at noon Saturday for another doubleheader.