Assistant DWU baseball coach suffers heart attack

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SALINA, Kan. — The Dakota Wesleyan University baseball team dropped its ninth consecutive game on Saturday night, but had to deal with a much bigger issue that night.

Hitting coach Kevin Nunn suffered a heart attack in the Tigers’ hotel room on Saturday around 10 p.m.

“We’re lucky we caught it in time,” DWU head coach Steve Gust said.

Gust said that after the incident, Nunn was going to go to the hospital on the team bus, but the situation became more severe and 911 was called.

“It puts your priorities in place,” Gust said. “The doctor expects a full recovery.”

The Tigers returned to the field on Sunday without their hitting coach. The team faced the same Kansas Wesleyan University that had swept them the day before.

“(Sunday) was by for our best game,” Gust said. “I think part of it was because they wanted to win for (Nunn).

“I think our guys rally around people in need. This team is full of character kids, and they proved it with this incident.”

The Tigers defeated Kansas Wesleyan 7-3 to snap a nine-game skid and improve to 4-9.

After the game, the team stopped at the hospital to drop a couple game balls off to Nunn. The team came home after visiting with Nunn, but Gust stayed back with his assistant coach.

The team is not practicing the next couple of days. The Tigers had planned on taking a few days off before they go on their spring break trip, the Tigers leave for Arizona on Friday.

Nunn will not travel with the team but expects to return to the coaching staff this season.

“He thinks he’s going to go to practice this week,” Gust said. “He’s kind of crazy. He’s just committed to the kids. He will return to the team when he’s ready, but his health is the No. 1 priority.”

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