Sunday, May 23, 2021

INDIANAPOLIS – Northwest Nazarene will stay home for its first-ever NCAA Championships appearance.

The Nighthawks earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II West Regional and an opportunity to host the tournament at their own Vail Baseball Field in Nampa, Idaho.

Northwest Nazarene (31-7, 21-3 GNAC) will be the No. 2 seed in the West Regional after earning the GNAC’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships. The Nighthawks claimed the regular-season title and won the GNAC Championships for the first time since 2016. They own a .310 team batting average and a conference-leading 4.52 earned run average. The Nighthawks are 26th in Division II with 8.6 runs per game and 25th with 76 stolen bases.

Freshman pitcher Kyle Ethridge, a First Team All-GNAC selection, is 6-1 on the season with a 4.02 ERA. He is second in the conference with 74 strikeouts and third with a .226 opposing batting average. Ethridge earned the win in the Nighthawks’ 8-2 victory over Central Washington in the opener of the GNAC Championships on Thursday, allowing two earned runs on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Junior Max Holtzclaw also earned first-team honors this season. He enters the regional with a 2.45 ERA, a .193 opposing batting average and 37 strikeouts. Holtzclaw has four wins on the season and leads the GNAC with five saves in 16 appearances.

Outfielder Grant Kerry, a first-team selection and the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, leads the team with a .369 batting average to go with a .455 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage. He is second in the conference with 52 hits and third with 48 RBI and 11 home runs.

Senior first baseman John Gonzalez is tied for the conference lead with 14 homers after hitting two in the GNAC Championships on his way to being named the tournament’s MVP. Gonzalez ranks third in the conference with a .706 slugging percentage and tied for fourth with 37 RBI.

Western Oregon (20-6, 19-5 GNAC) claimed the No. 3 seed in the West Regional as an at-large selection after finishing the regular season in second place. The Wolves withdrew from the GNAC Championships due to health and safety protocols. They lead the conference with a .328 batting average and a .423 on-base percentage and are second to the Nighthawks with a 4.56 ERA.

Senior first baseman/pitcher Connor McCord, the GNAC Player of the Year, leads the conference with a .864 slugging percentage and is fourth with a .395 batting average and a .485 on-base percentage. He leads the Wolves with nine home runs and is No. 11 in Division II with 0.48 doubles per game.

Junior shortstop Derek Maiben has 45 hits, 28 runs and 17 RBI on the season and earned first-team accolades. He leads the conference with a .417 batting average and 1.73 hits per game.

The Wolves also earned the GNAC Pitcher of the Year award in senior Mike Peterson. Peterson is 6-0 on the season with 30 strikeouts and a .236 opposing batting average. He is second in the conference to teammate Matthew Dunaway (3.04) with a 3.40 ERA. Dunaway leads the conference with a .196 opposing batting average.

The West Regional will be played on May 27-30 in Nampa, Idaho. Azusa Pacific earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the double-elimination tournament. Second-seeded Northwest Nazarene will play No. 3-seeded Western Oregon at noon on Thursday. The loser will play Azusa Pacific at 3:30 p.m. The winner of each regional tournament will advance to the championships on June 5-12 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.