The best season in program history. There have been many great moments and successful teams in the 65-year existence of Northwest Nazarene baseball, but none can say they got as far as the 2021 Nighthawks.
 
NNU went 35-10, winning the GNAC regular season title for the second time and the GNAC tournament title for the second time. From there, they earned their first-ever bid to the NCAA postseason, where they won the West Regional in thrilling fashion to become the first GNAC squad to reach the NCAA Championships. The Nighthawks also won a game in Cary with a 9-3 victory over Trevecca Nazarene, finishing in the top six in the nation.
 
How did they do it? When a team has this type of success, they are almost always above average in all facets of the game that they play. For NNU, what brought them over the hump last season was the significant improvement and dominance of the pitching staff as a whole.
 
When NNU's coaching staff turned over three years ago during the summer of 2018, new head coach Joe Schaefer and pitching coach Matt Hollod knew that the mound would be the key to their success in Nampa. "Historically, it seemed that NNU could always hit the ball," said Schaefer. "But our plan when we got here was to improve the pitching as quickly as possible. Matt and I have been doing this long enough to know you can't win often, and you can't win post season games, without being able to pitch at a high level."
 
Before coming to NNU, Hollod already had a history of developing pitching successfully. At Riverside Community College, he had arguably the best pitching staff in the country at the junior college level. His staff posted the fewest walks in the country and was sixth in the nation in ERA.
 
"Matt is a tremendous game planner," said Schaefer. "He studies other teams, knows how to attack their hitters, and puts pitchers in the best possible position to win."
 
"Our first priority when we got here was changing the philosophy," added Schaefer. "We wanted to lead the conference in pitching every year. We wanted our guys to believe that even though our ballpark can be considered an offensive ballpark, you could still pitch successfully here."
 
And pitch successfully they did. As a team during the 2021 campaign, NNU set new program records for strikeouts (400), strikeouts per nine innings (9.58), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.39), walks allowed per nine innings (2.83), and WHIP (1.27). The Nighthawks led the West Region in each of those five categories, as well as pacing the region with a 4.48 team ERA. Even more impressively, the strikeout-to-walk ratio was sixth in the nation and the walks allowed per nine innings mark was seventh across Division II.
 
Individually, four different Nighthawks broke into the single-season record books and five factored highly into the top of the regional pitching ranks during the incredible year.
 
In his first full year at NNU, freshman starter Kyle Ethridge posted 94 strikeouts (first in the West Region, 22^nd in the nation, third in NNU history), 12.14 strikeouts per nine innings (fourth in the region, third in NNU history), a 5.53 strikeout-to-walk ratio (first in the region), and a 1.09 WHIP (third in the region). Fellow starter Sasha Jabusch transferred to NNU before the start of the year and immediately found success, finishing fourth in the region with a 4.58 strikeout to walk ratio and fifth with a 1.14 WHIP.
 
"The biggest key I saw this year was guys stepping up when we needed them most," said Ethridge. "Every single person had to buy in and be ready when their name was called. Whether it was to come in relief or spot start, each person played a pivotal role and ultimately allowed us to be in the position that we were in. Also, we had a good bond among the pitching staff during practices or games. We were always sitting together or having each other's backs and that goes with the idea of buying in."
 
"Our starting pitching was good, very good," said Hollod. "Kyle was huge all year for us. Sasha had one of the best performances of the year when we needed it most. We had other guys who were in and out of the rotation who also gave us some really good starts."
 
Ethridge praised Hollod as well for the help and coaching that he provided on a daily basis. "He focused largely on the mental side and allowed us to dictate the game we wanted to throw. He is very open to listening to our ideas and it let us be comfortable when the game rolled around, allowing us to settle in right away and get outs."
 
On the bullpen side, Blake McFadden posted the third-lowest opposing batting average in program history, allowing opponents to hit just .177. Ty Hueckman recorded the fourth-most strikeouts per nine innings in NNU history with 12.05. Last but definitely not least, Max Holtzclaw set a new program record in strikeouts per nine with 15.59 in the closer role.
 
"Relief pitching can often be overlooked, but it's just as important as starting pitching," said Hollod. "To have two guys in our bullpen who had the years that Blake and Max had was just an extraordinary weapon. When the game was close, we as a team had complete confidence in both of those guys. They dominated our conference and were a big reason why we made a trip to the College World Series and finished sixth in the country." 
 
McFadden made the change from a starter to a reliever during the fall and made the most of it, enjoying the ride and making history. "It honestly didn't feel as though we were going to set records as the season was progressing," said McFadden. "Everyone was just doing their part and accepted their role throughout the year. As someone in the back end of the bullpen, I knew that the starters were going to do their job and it was up to me and the rest of the bullpen to build off of their success and finish games strong. Having the pitching success that we had this year was good to see and it helped our offense relax and not have to press to put up runs." 
 
Success of this magnitude does not come easy, and Schaefer credits Hollod as a huge part of the change of philosophy and improvement of the staff. "First off, Matt has done a tremendous job on the recruiting trail," said Schaefer. "He is a go-getter and knows how to identify good pitchers that will fit our program."
 
"Recruiting pitchers who can command the strike zone has been a big priority. We believe that you can develop components like velocity, strength, movement, and spin. Matt does a great job with developing our pitchers, and it's nice to know that we can go out and recruit a guy that throws strikes, and then develop him into a guy who could eventually catch the eye of professional scouts." 
 
In just three years, this pitching philosophy has quickly come to fruition. "Our guys have done a phenomenal job controlling the running game and we've also dramatically improved our tempo on the mound," said Hollod. "But more importantly, our command has reached a level where we are among the best in the country. In today's game, velocity is exciting. It sells. However, if you can't command the zone and execute pitches, it doesn't matter how hard you throw. Our focus needs to be command, movement, and velocity in that order."
 
"I also want to say that I believe our guys got along very well. They seemed to really enjoy coming to practice every day and putting in the work. Having fun and enjoying what you are doing is the first step in developing as a player. They have been a joy to coach and they take ownership in what I'm asking them to do."
 
"One of the biggest keys to our success this past season was having a group of guys who truly cared about each other and wanted to perform their best, not only for themselves but for one another," added McFadden.
 
Due in part to the extra year of eligibility that was given following the cancellation of the 2020 season, most of the players that made 2021 a success will be back for the 2022 campaign.
 
"It feels great to be a part of history because not only did we do something special, but we made a name for our program," said Ethridge. "Now we are starting to create a name for ourselves and with this continued success we can put our name in the conversation with top schools in Division II. Our staff really showed that velocity isn't everything needed to win in the game of baseball, and we will look to continue what we started last year."
 
"We will look to build off of the team chemistry we had this past year and find ways to improve in that aspect as well as on the field heading into the new season", added McFadden. "We are putting NNU on the map and it is cool to see the growth of the program over my time here."