Northwestern State Demon Baseball 2023 NSU COACHING/SUPPORT STAFF

Dan HLAD

Volunteer Assistant Coach

3rd Year At Nsu

A key member of the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament champion, Dan Hlad is in his third season on the Northwestern State staff, gaining growing responsibilities with the Demon pitching staff.

In two seasons assisting Bobby Barbier with the NSU pitchers, Hlad has helped three players earn All-Southland Conference honors while Levi David and Johnathan Harmon each became the conference’s top MLB Draft pick in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Hlad spent two seasons at Northwestern State after transferring from Black Hawk College.

A right-handed pitcher, Hlad spent the 2018 season as a swingman, tying for the team lead with 20 appearances, including two starts.

Hlad fashioned a 3-2 record and three saves with a 2.73 ERA while working 56 innings (fourth-most on the team) and started the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament championship game against New Orleans.

Thomas TAYLOR

Director of Baseball Operations

2nd Year At Nsu

Thomas Taylor is in his second season as part of the Northwestern State staff, serving as the Demons’ director of baseball operations.

A 2021 graduate of William Carey University, Taylor brings a diverse background to the position, having worked at various levels of both college and professional baseball.

A Flowood, Mississippi, native, Taylor comes to NSU after spending the 2021 season as the director of equipment operations at William Carey. During the season, Taylor worked with the Crusaders outfielders, helping the team post a 36-12 record and reach the O’Fallon Regional.

Prior to returning to college baseball, Taylor spent 2019 and the spring of 2020 with the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He was invited to work with the Brewers’ clubhouse staff at spring training in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered Arizona operations.

Taylor had joined the Carolina Mudcats, Milwaukee’s Hi-A affiliate, following the conclusion of the 2019 season. During the 2019 campaign, Taylor was an assistant groundskeeper with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers in the Milwaukee organization. Taylor was part of a staff that helped MGM Park finish as the No. 2 rated field in the Southern League. He later became was the home clubhouse manager with the Shuckers, working with their staff and with Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell.

Trevor WREN

Director of Player Development

3rd Year At Nsu

In 2022, Wren helped Jeffrey Elkins earn All-Southland Defensive Team honors while blasting a career-best 13 home runs.

In Wren’s first season, he played a key role in helping Larson Fontenot enjoy a career-best season offensively (.300, 12 stolen bases) as part of a rotating cast of players that overcame injuries throughout 2021.

Wren spent two seasons (2019-20) at Andrew College in Georgia, working primarily with the team’s hitters and outfielders. He also coached ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner Brenton Phillips.

Wren, an Ohio native, earned his undergraduate degree in sport management at Schreiner, earning Academic All-SCAC honors in all four years, and completed his master’s degree in sport administration at Northwestern State in May 2022.

A four-year letterman at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas, Wren was a three-year team captain who posted a .311 career batting average while playing first base and also pitching. He was a member of the 2018 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference All-Sportsmanship Team.

Joe CRAIGHEAD

Graduate Manager

1st Year At Nsu

Joe Craighead is in his first year as a graduate manager with the Northwestern State baseball program.

Craighead comes to NSU after spending the past three years as the head student manager and head of operations at Louisiana Tech where he worked under former Demon skipper Lane Burroughs.

While at Louisiana Tech, Craighead assisted in day-to-day operations of the Bulldog program, including setting up for practice, facilitating practice drills, creating and organizing scouting reports and assisting with team travel.

An August 2022 Louisiana Tech graduate in kinesiology, health and physical education, Craighead has worked with the CATS and Ruston Reds youth baseball organizations and was an assistant coach at Choudrant Junior High School in his hometown.

Craighead is pursuing a master’s degree in adult learning and development at Northwestern State.

Elizabeth HOLLOLWAY

Administrative Assistant

27th Year At Nsu

Elizabeth Holloway — known to the NSU athletic department as Ms. E — handles administrative duties for Demon football, baseball and track. For the last 20 years, she has gotten to work with the best coaches, staff and student-athletes an administrative assistant could ever ask for.

Ms. E and her husband Ted settled in Natchitoches 30 years ago. For five years, she worked in the athletic compliance office, then briefly worked at her husband’s jewelry store. She came back to Northwestern State in 2001. She considers her time here one of the greatest blessings in her life.

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Wren spent his first two years in Natchitoches working with the NSU outfielders, seeing a pair of them enjoy career-best seasons.

Ms. E is great grandmother to Leo Mercer, 6, and Mateo, 1, her grandson Jacob’s sons. Jacob lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with his wife Karla, and works while attending UAB. Ms. E’s granddaughter Kate also lives in Birmingham, and recently graduated from Birmingham-Southern. Amy Abeyta, Ms. E’s daughter, is the assistant vice president of Communications at BSC. She is married to her husband Adam Abeyta. Ms. E’s son, Tim Bickers, recently moved back to Natchitoches and is employed by Rhodes Properties.