McFarland: Crowell breaks Reinhardt home run record
Okotoks Dawgs slugger Nash Crowell (Yarmouth, N.S.) recently belted his 56th career home run for Reinhart University to break the program record. Photo: Reinhardt University Athletics
*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on April 17. You can read it here.
April 18, 2025
By Joe McFarland
Alberta Dugout Stories
When Nash Crowell stepped into the batter’s box for his first at-bat of a weekend series against Bryan College, he had no idea history was about to unfold.
Even after he took an offering from Ben Zyburt over the fence and started his home run trot, the gravity of the situation didn’t even cross his mind.
In fact, the Yarmouth, Nova Scotia native was so wrapped up in helping stake the Reinhardt University Eagles to an early 2-0 lead that he didn’t know what happened until his team took to the field for the top half of the second inning.
Crowell’s 13th home run of the season was the 56th of his career with the Eagles, setting the new long ball record for the Eagles.
“They announced it over the speakers,” the Dawgs Academy alum told Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.
“I didn’t even know I needed one more to do it … it’s just something that happens when you’re not thinking about it, I guess.”
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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Nash Crowell here.
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His focus might be on helping the Eagles win a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) World Series, but Crowell admits he knew breaking the record was a possibility heading into the Appalachian Athletic Conference season.
HOMER HAPPY
Crowell has been synonymous with round trippers everywhere he’s gone.
It started with the Dawgs and Bismarck State College in 2022, where he collected seven in 44 games.
The right-handed slugger returned to Okotoks in 2023 and hit 10 more with the Western Canadian Baseball League team before starting his three-year run at Reinhardt.
He put up 20 in his sophomore season and another 23 as a junior, alongside fellow Dawgs product Tucker Zdunich (High River, Alta.), who set the Reinhardt record with 55 during his illustrious career.
When the High River native graduated in 2024, Crowell says they talked about the potential changing of the guard.
“We knew he had the record and how many he had and how many I had going into the year,” he said. “He was like, ‘Man, you’re going to break that by March – I’m not holding onto the record for too long.’”
Even though it felt inevitable, the two-time WCBL Home Run Derby participant says he still had to play the games.
LOADING UP
A dozen smashes behind Zdunich, Crowell went to work pecking away at the record.
He picked up five in his first 10 games, went through an eight-game dry spell, hit another five in seven games, then hit two on March 28 to tie the record.
But Crowell said he hadn’t been keeping track, which might have been a good thing as he went homerless over his next seven games.
“It’s not really a thought that crosses your mind throughout the season,” he said. “You’re just playing ball.”
Much like a hockey player who “grips the stick too tight” when under pressure, Crowell says it doesn’t usually work out when you’re trying to hit home runs, so he focused on helping the team win ball games.
Heading into the game against Bryan, he had a bit of a game-plan going into his first at-bat.
“They had their Friday night guy out there and, looking at the scouting report, they were saying he’s a pretty heavy fastball guy but can mix in a curveball for a first pitch,” Crowell said.
After watching second baseman Louis Dion take a curveball that missed the strike zone, the 6-foot, 215-pound first baseman knew what to key in on.
“I was thinking that he was going to try to sneak one away to get ahead in the count,” Crowell said.
“Sure enough, first pitch he threw me was a fastball that he left over the heart of the plate and I did not miss it.”
A PLACE IN SCHOOL HISTORY
While less dramatic than Dawgs and Mystics teammate Logan Grant’s record-setting walk-off home run at Bellevue University just a week earlier, Crowell says he rounded the bases like it was just another day.
It wasn’t until after the between-innings announcement where he started receiving high-fives and attaboys.
He didn’t really have time to celebrate as the Eagles had a game to win, which they did by a score of 8-3, on their way to sweeping the three-game weekend series.
Crowell says the celebrating was saved for after the game, where he also was able to catch up on a flurry of text messages and social media mentions.
One of those texts was from Zdunich.
“I texted him saying, ‘There it is!’” the former Eagle smiled.
“I was just really proud of him to take the crown, as he’s been a huge addition to the Reinhardt program and has been a rock for them the last few seasons … it’s nice to see him have a place in school history.”
Crowell says it means a lot being able to eclipse a mark set by a friend versus someone he didn’t know from decades prior, adding Zdunich was a respected leader on the Eagles team.
He also texted with Grant, which was a bit of a surreal moment as the pair have shared in many successes together over the years.
“When he broke his record, I sent him a congrats text and, five days later, he’s sending me the same one,” Crowell said.
“Before last year’s season started, we bet 10 bucks on who would hit more home runs throughout the season – I got him last year but he’s leading me now so I have to try and catch up.”
The new record-holder says he also made his usual post-game phone call to his dad to talk about the game and how everything went.
“He thought it was cool, but he was like, ‘There’s still more to hit, more games to be played, keep doing it,’” Crowell laughed.
WORLD SERIES FOCUS
With the home run record in the rear-view mirror, Crowell doesn’t have any more benchmarks in mind.
However, if our math is correct, he still trails Zdunich for the all-time lead in runs batted in (185 for Zdunich and 170 for Crowell) as we write this story.
Crowell’s career batting average of .363 is just short of Greg Ihlenburg’s .364 from 2005-2008, which could rise with some big games down the stretch.
As a senior, he’s only concerned about one thing: ending his college career on top with an NAIA World Series crown.
A 44-18 team in 2024, the Eagles made it to the championship bracket before falling twice in the double-elimination tournament to Tennessee Wesleyan, including a heartbreaking 3-2 extra innings loss in the semi-final.
Crowell says they have learned some lessons from those losses and believe they can take care of their unfinished business by working hard and playing smart, clean baseball.
“I mean, senior year, I think that’s the best way to go out,” Crowell said. “I would be over-the-moon excited … I’ll be at the bottom of that dogpile right away.”
It’d be one more way for him to etch his name into the history books at Reinhardt.