Northwestern State misses opportunities, falls in both ends of doubleheader at UIW

SAN ANTONIO – The Northwestern State baseball team had more than its share of chances to come away with a win in Game 1 of Friday’s Southland Conference doubleheader against UIW.

The Demons could not convert enough of those opportunities, however, and dropped both games of the twinbill, 6-3 and 10-6, to the Cardinals at Sullivan Field.

“That was the story of Game 1, and it kind of carried the same mojo into Game 2,” first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. “We competed and created some opportunities in the first game, but we weren’t able to cash in. When you look at the numbers of guys left on base and the numbers of opportunities squandered or self-inflicted wounds, they started to mount and it became too much to overcome.”

The Demons (14-25, 6-8) continually pressured UIW starter Josh Salinas in the opener, but the left-hander danced in and out of trouble, allowing the Cardinals (22-15, 7-4) to build a 5-0 lead on home runs by Dalton Beck in each of the first two innings.

Beck’s two-run homer in the first off Chase Prestwich (3-4) gave the Cardinals an early lead before his three-run shot to nearly the same place an inning later expanded the lead.

Northwestern State pressured Salinas throughout his 4 2-3 innings, putting a runner in scoring position every inning except the fourth before breaking through in the fifth on RBI singles from Braden Benton and Rocco Gump. Gump’s single kept the bases loaded and knocked Salinas from the game after 99 pitches.

Danny Davis (1-0) entered and escaped the jam to keep the UIW lead at three.

Ryan Scott’s two-out home run answered the Demons’ two-run inning and set up the Cardinals’ next great escape.

NSU loaded the bases again with one out in the seventh against Davis before Adam Byrd entered from the bullpen and got a strikeout and fly ball to wiggle out of the jam.

The Demons pulled within three on Daniel Young’s pinch-hit RBI single before Byrd got a foulout to end the game. The Demons stranded two in the ninth and left 16 on base in the game, 11 in scoring position.

UIW kept that momentum in the nightcap, striking for three runs off Alejandro Marquez (0-1) in the first inning on an RBI double by Beck and a two-run Tony DeJesus single.

From there, the Demons began to rally, starting with Young’s RBI single in the fourth.

Each time NSU scored, UIW answered. The Cardinals followed Young’s single with a two-run Ryder Hernandez single.

Trailing 9-2 following a two-run Hernandez home run in the sixth, the Demons pulled within four on a Rocco Gump RBI double and a two-run Young single in the eighth.

UIW responded with an RBI single from Rey Mendoza before the Demons scored a ninth-inning run on a Clay Jung RBI single to score Reese Lipoma, who extended his career-long hit streak to 17 games with three total hits in the doubleheader.

“We lost the momentum early, and it’s hard to grab it back,” Bertrand said. “We need to learn from it in a way that says it’s extremely difficult to be on offense when you’re always behind. It’s extremely difficult when you do create some momentum and go get some runs to always give up more. Right now, we have to learn that, in addition to the competitiveness, there has to be some baseball execution where we can create momentum and keep it.”

The series concludes Sunday with a 1 p.m. game. Right-hander Dawson Flowers (1-2, 6.31) will start for NSU against UIW right-hander Hunter Hargett (1-0, 6.11).

UIW 6-10, Northwestern State 3-6

Game 1
NSU 000 020 001 – 3 9 1
UIW 230 010 00x – 6 6
W – Danny Davis (1-0). L – Chase Prestwich (3-4). S – Adam Byrd (1). 2B – NSU, Balin Valentine, Cole Hill. HR – UIW, Dalton Beck 2 (12), Ryan Scott (6). Highlights: UIW, Beck 2-4, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs.

Game 2
NSU 000 110 031 – 6 10 2
UIW 300 202 21x – 10 13 0
W – Isaiah Zavala (4-3). L – Alejandro Marquez (0-1). 2B – NSU, Rocco Gump 2. UIW, Dalton Beck 2B, Daniel Calabrese. HR – NSU, Balin Valentine (6). UIW, Ryder Hernandez (1). Highlights; NSU, Reese Lipoma 2-5, Gump 2-4, 2 2Bs, RBI; Daniel Young 2-4, 3 RBIs. UIW, Beck 2-5, 2 2Bs, RBI; Rey Mendoza 2-3, RBI; Calabrese 2-4, RBI; Grant Randall 2-3; Hernandez 2-4, HR, 4 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 14-25, 6-8; UIW 22-15, 7-4.