Valentine’s blast lifts Demons over Nicholls in 10 innings

THIBODAUX – All season, first-year Northwestern State head baseball coach Chris Bertrand has praised his team’s ability to respond.

There may not have been a point where that was shown more than in Friday night’s Southland Conference series opener at Nicholls.

Balin Valentine’s two-out, two-run home run in the 10th inning lifted the Demons to a 7-5 victory at Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field, giving the Demons an emphatic win to start the series.

“We talk about it after all our wins – not just on the scoreboard – but think about what this kind of win can do for us as a ballclub,” Bertrand said. “Think about what that win means in the manner of how we went about it. That’s why I’m proud of our guys. You saw responses all night long. What a win like that against a team like that, against a starting pitcher like that. We had a game plan going in, and we did a wonderful job mentally and physically.”

Northwestern State (12-22, 5-5) exercised power and patience to drive Nicholls starter Jacob Mayers out of the game after just 3 1-3 innings, drawing five walks and forcing the reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year to throw 82 pitches.

A pair of big swings – back-to-back home runs from Clay Jung and Daniel Burroway – put the Demons up 2-0 on Mayers in the third inning and forced the Colonels (23-12, 6-4) into their bullpen early.

After Valentine drilled a two-run double off reliever Nico Saltaformaggio to extend the lead to 4-0 in the fourth, the Colonels’ bullpen issued their response.

Saltaformaggio and Gavin Galy limited the Demons to one run in the final four innings of regulation – Hayden Knotts’ first career home run in the sixth inning – while helping strand 11 Demons on base.

That relief work allowed Nicholls to chip away at the four-run lead and eventually tie the game on Cade Crosby’s two-run home run in the eighth inning off Demon reliever Caleb Bunch (2-0).

Even after that gut punch, the Demons responded – and did so in a way that made their head coach proud.

Bunch was able to strand two runners in the ninth, working around back-to-back, two-out walks.

Galy (1-1) retired the first two hitters he faced in the 10th before Reese Lipoma beat out a routine grounder to third to keep the inning alive and to extend his career-long hitting streak to 12 games.

Galy made a pair of pickoff throws to first before throwing his first and only pitch to Valentine, who promptly deposited it over the left-field wall to regain the lead for the Demons.

“I tried to sit fastball out over the plate or see spin up,” said Valentine, who had his second four-RBI game in as many weeks. “I saw something up and tried to put a great swing on it.”

Given another chance to protect the lead, Bunch did so, working around a two-out error to strike out Jaden Collura to bring the Demons’ back to .500 in conference play.

Crosby’s home run was the lone hit Bunch allowed in his career-long five innings of relief as he and starter Chase Prestwich limited Nicholls to five hits after the Colonels entered the game hitting .318 as a team.

Valentine and Burroway each had two of the Demons’ eight hits, which included a season-high four home runs. The back-to-back blasts from Jung and Burroway marked the first set of consecutive home runs for the Demons since Gray Rowlett and Broch Holmes did so at New Orleans on April 2, 2023.

“What is that model for our ballclub that Caleb now teaches everybody else?” Bertrand asked. “What is that model that we are going to be able to use tomorrow, that we will be able to use on Sunday? Holding that offense down, but to do it in a way that says our guys are exhibiting winning characteristics and responsive characteristics – it’s the way we go about our business that continues to prove our capabilities. Once we’re able to mesh those things together like we did tonight, we have a chance to turn the corner and become dangerous.”

The series continues at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Northwestern State will send right-hander Dawson Flowers (1-1, 5.63) to the mound against Nicholls left-hander Jack Nelson (1-1, 6.97).

Northwestern State 7, Nicholls 5, 10 innings
NSU 002 201 000 2 – 7 8 1
Nicholls 000 210 020 0 – 5 5 1
W – Caleb Bunch (2-0). L – Gavin Galy (1-1). 2B – NSU, Balin Valentine. NICH, Gerardo Villareal. HR – NSU, Valentine (3), Clay Jung (4), Daniel Burroway (6), Hayden Knotts (1). NICH, Edgar Alvarez (8), Cade Crosby (4). Highlights: NSU, Valentine 2-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBIs; Burroway 2-4, HR, RBI. NICH, Crosby 2-5, HR, 2 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 12-22, 5-5; Nicholls 23-12, 6-4.