Baseball — South Alabama rallies again to edge Demons

NATCHITOCHES – Another one-run game, another tough break for the Northwestern State baseball team.

For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Demons found themselves on the short end of a late South Alabama rally, falling to the visiting Jaguars, 6-5, at Brown-Stroud Field on Saturday afternoon.

One night after the Jaguars (12-9) used a three-run, ninth-inning home run to take a win, it was a three-run, three-base throwing error in the seventh inning Saturday that provided South Alabama with the decisive runs.

“This game can really beat you down if you let it,” fifth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. “If you come out of these games as two losses – which they are – and don’t learn anything, it will beat you down. You’ve got to learn from it, and you have to understand that you have to come to work every day and stay the course, and it will turn for us.”’

Down 2-0 after a fifth-inning home run by Richard Sorrenti, the Demons cobbled together a two-out rally with timely hitting and a bout of wildness from South Alabama starter Matt Boswell.

Boswell retired the first two hitters of the inning and was ahead of Cam Sibley 0-2 before Sibley flipped one of his career-high three hits to left field.

Things unraveled for Boswell, who walked Daunte Stuart then hit three consecutive Demons, forcing in two runs by plunking Marshall Skinner and Jeffrey Elkins with the bases loaded, before Jake Haze slapped a two-run single to left to give Northwestern State a 4-2 lead.

After the Demons put three runners on board in the sixth and did not score, the Jaguars took advantage against Levi David (1-2) in the seventh with a pair of batted balls that did not reach the mound sparking a four-run frame.

With two outs, Cameron Tissue’s swinging-bunt single up the third-base line loaded the bases before Michael Sandle drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the lead two one.

Ethan Wilson, who homered in Friday’s win, dropped a first-pitch bunt that David threw wildly to first, allowing all three runs to score.

Jeffrey Elkins kept the Jaguars from getting the shutdown inning in the bottom of the seventh, slamming a solo home run to left off Jase Dalton (4-2), but that was all the Demons could muster against Dalton and Tyler Samaniego.

Samaniego recorded the final four outs, allowing only Lenni Kunert’s infield single with one out in the ninth, to notch his fourth save.

The Demons stranded nine runners, putting at least one man on base in all but the eighth inning.

“Jeff’s swinging the bat well,” Barbier said. “And Jake has come up with two big two-out knocks for us the last two games. We’ve just got to keep putting good at-bats – our at-bats the last two days have been better – together. Hopefully we can get that going and do a little better job on the mound.”

Sibley finished 3-for-5 atop the Demon order, which saw seven of nine batters record a hit and all but one regular reach base.

Tissue (2-for-5) and Wilson (2-for-4) led South Alabama at the plate.

The series concludes Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch. Senior right-hander Peyton Graham makes his season debut for Northwestern State against South Alabama right-hander JoJo Booker (1-0, 4.28).

South Alabama 6, Northwestern State 5
USA 000 110 400 – 6 7 0
NSU 000 040 100 – 5 9 1
W – Jase Dalton (4-2). L – Levi David (1-2). S – Tyler Samaniego (4). 2B – NSU, Cam Sibley. HR – USA, Richard Sorrenti (2). NSU, Jeffrey Elkins (2). Highlights: USA, Cameron Tissue 2-5; Ethan Wilson 2-4. NSU, Cam Sibley 3-5; Jeffrey Elkins HR, 2 RBIs.
Records: South Alabama 12-9; Northwestern State 9-11.