MONMOUTH, Ore. – It would have been easy for the Northwest Nazarene University baseball team to mail it in Saturday.

Afterall, the Nighthawks had lost the opener of their doubleheader with Western Oregon 3-2 in 14 long innings.

But NNU (10-20 overall, 8-12 GNAC) bounced back and held off the GNAC-leading Wolves, winning the nightcap 5-4 to escape Oregon with a split in the series.

"After losing that first game in 14 innings, I was interested to see how our guys would bounce back physically and emotionally," NNU coach Rocke Musgraves said. "They really answered the bell. We played baseball the way it was meant to be played this weekend."

Cooper Webster picked up the win on the mound, allowing four runs – one earned -- on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. Jalen Fuhriman then got out of trouble in the seventh, escaping a two-on, two-out jam to end the game and earn the save.

Justin Folz hit a two-run homer, Kyle Redford and Ryan Connor each drove in a run and Parker Price was 2-for-4.

"I thought our hitters did a great job of hitting with two strikes, which is something that takes a lot of moxie," Musgraves said. "It seems like in this day and age, coaches are teaching that strikeouts are OK if you are swinging for the fences. Our guys have done a good job of not buying into that and playing for the team and doing anything they can to put the ball in play with two strikes."

In the opener, Justin Folz tied the game on a run-scoring fielder's choice in the ninth inning.

Starting pitcher Adam Paulson threw 10 innings, allowing two runs on 11 hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Jesse Hilyard threw three scoreless innings of relief, before the Wolves broke through in the 14th against Ross Clevenger.

Redford was 3-for-6, Dylan Cure was 2-for-5 with a double, and Hilyard and Casey Sheehan each had doubles.

The win keeps the Nighthawks firmly in the playoff hunt. NNU is one game behind Concordia for the fourth and final playoff spot halfway through the regular season. Western Oregon (14-13, 14-6) is now tied with Montana State Billings for first.

"Our pitchers were absolutely outstanding this weekend," Musgraves said. "Coach (Nate) Bobrowski and coach (Alan) Embree have done a wonderful job turning our staff around.

"All four starting pitchers gave us strong performances which really helped our bullpen. We gave up only 10 runs on the weekend to a very strong, athletic and well-coached Western Oregon team."

The Nighthawks open the second half by hosting Saint Martin's at 3 p.m. Friday in a doubleheader.