Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NAMPA, Idaho – Kyle Redford and his fellow seniors clinched the third playoff berth of their careers Saturday.

And this one might have been the sweetest of all.

After a rough junior campaign, Redford and his teammates bounced back and battled throughout this season to clinch a spot in the GNAC Baseball Championships with a 5-4 win against Saint Martin's on Saturday. The Saints won the opener 5-1.

"It feels good to get one, especially after last year," Redford said, "and all the troubles we've had with pitching this year. It is just great to see guys battling. This is a big one and I'm excited."

NNU finished 19-31 last season, lost three of its better players to graduation, MLB and a transfer and had a new coaching staff come in. The Nighthawks were picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, but have been surprising people all year long.

"These guys thought from the beginning that not only could they make the conference tournament, but they could win the thing," NNU coach Joe Schaefer said. "They've been bought in from the beginning and doing a good job every day to try and get better."

NNU (21-21 overall, 17-16 GNAC) went to the playoffs in 2015-17, winning the conference tournament title on their home field in 2016.

The Nighthawks, who still have four regular-season games remaining next weekend against Central Washington, are in third place at the moment. The tournament will be played at Concordia on May 9-11.

"I'm pumped to go to the postseason," NNU's Parker Price said. "We have a bunch of guys that are super excited and I think we are going to do some damage."

After struggling in the opener Saturday, NNU got a strong pitching performance by Price and some key offense from Redford to deliver the playoff spot.

Price allowed one run on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in five innings to earn his first victory of the season.

"They were swinging at a lot of pitches and hitting it to the defense," he said. "I had a good defense behind me and I was throwing with a lot of confidence."

Redford had a two-run double and a sacrifice fly to lead the offense. Braeden Dunten added a pinch-hit RBI single and Ryan Connor drove in the other run.

NNU's offense continued to struggle against Saint Martin's as it has all season long. The Saints won the season series 5-3.

"I think it is their pitching honestly," Redford said. "They have a lot of guys who can throw pretty good offspeed and I think that is what we struggle with the most."
NNU did just enough Saturday, though, to get the all important win.

Jalen Fuhriman allowed three runs in relief, but escaped a bases loaded jam in the top of the sixth with the tying run at third base. He induced a pop up to Redford in foul ground to end the game.

NNU celebrated briefly before walking off the field as though it was any other victory.

"I think we all know there is more work to be done," Schaefer said. "There is still another week left in the regular season and we want to be the hottest team going into that tournament."