Nighthawks win GNAC tournament, advance to NCAAs

Northwest Nazarene’s triumph in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference was special for multiple reasons.

For the program, it was their 36th win of the season, a new record for the Nighthawks. And for head coach Joe Schaefer, it was the 500th win of his coaching career.

On day two of the GNAC baseball championships, the Nighthawks entered the day needing only one win to be crowned conference champions. They couldn’t get it done in game one against Western Oregon, losing 4-3, sending the tournament to a winner-take-all game two Saturday afternoon.

Led by the pitching duo of Kailer Saunders and Wade Duncan, Northwest Nazarene held the Wolves to one hit in a 5-1 win. With the win, the Nighthawks punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament for the third time in the last four seasons.

Western Oregon still posed a threat in the game despite the one run. They collected nine hits but left runners on in six of the nine innings. The Nighthawks defense had to be sharp — which they were, playing nine innings of error-free baseball.

Saunders threw the first six innings, holding the Wolves scoreless with four strikeouts. It was the first time this season he didn’t allow a run when pitching multiple innings. Wade — the Nighthawks top reliever — came in for the final three innings. He allowed five hits, but allowed only one run.

For Western Oregon, they cycled through their bullpen, using six different pitchers in game two. No pitcher went more than two innings on the mound. One of those relievers was Shane Bailey — who holds a 2.39 ERA on the season — who the Nighthawks got two runs off of.

Bryan Rojas knocked in the first run of the game for Northwest Nazarene in the bottom of the second inning. His RBI-single up the middle sent Trevor Tishenkel home. They added two more runs in the fourth with RBI knocks from Rojas and Carter Walsh.

Tishenkel added a solo home run in the fifth and Duke Pahukoa hit an RBI-single in the seventh to extend the Nighthawks lead 5-0. Northwest Nazarene had the insurance runs they needed to win comfortably.

This is the third GNAC tournament title for the Nighthawks, who have appeared in the tournament eight times. They won’t have to sweat out an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, they know their spot is secured.

Northwest Nazarene will learn their path in the tournament Sunday night when the full field is announced.