Demons drop pitchers’ duel to Nebraska

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Northwestern State baseball team competed how its head coach wanted to see it do Friday morning and into the afternoon.

The results, however, were again on the tough side as the Demons dropped a 2-0 pitchers’ duel to Nebraska at Clay Gould Ballpark.

“We competed really hard,” sixth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. “We played really good defense. We’ve just got to do it multiple games in a row. If we do that, we’ll have a chance to win those games, and they’ll start going our way.”

The Demons (3-6) pressured Nebraska right-hander Koty Frank early but were unable to cash in their chances.

Bryce Holmes (single) and Bo Willis (double) gave the Demons a two-out threat in the first inning before Frank (1-0) got a strikeout to end the inning.

Gray Rowlett led off the NSU second with a double – the Demons’ third hit in their first six at-bats – and took third on a wild pitch. After Gabe Colaianni drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the corners with one out, it appeared Frank had thrown a run-scoring wild pitch with Cam Sibley at the plate.

After a conference with all three umpires, Sibley was ruled to have been hit by the pitch, loading the bases.

Frank again escaped with a double-play grounder.

“It’s just the game,” Barbier said. “The game, when it’s not going good, it will jump on your back, and you have to carry it. You’ve got to do a good job of coming to play every day and not letting the stuff you can’t control bog you down. Today, we came to play and played hard. Now, we have to do it tomorrow morning.”

NSU left-hander Cal Carver (0-2) was nearly untouchable for the first three innings, retiring the first eight Huskers he faced while getting some help from his defense.

A Lincoln, Nebraska, native, Carver kept his hometown university scoreless for five-plus innings until Griffin Everitt hit a two-run home run to left field for the only runs of the game.

Carver turned in his second straight quality start against a Power Five opponent, scattering seven hits and allowing two runs while striking out eight in six innings.

“Cal pitched phenomenally,” Barbier said. “He was great. He had them off-balance. They did a good job (in the sixth). They got a change-up for a single and got one up and ran it out of the yard on a day where it was tough to get one out. We had our shots early. We swung the bats well, but we didn’t have anything to show for it.”

Much like last week’s middle game against Oklahoma, the Demons saw a power-conference team make every defensive play against them.

With the game still scoreless, Husker center fielder Luke Sartori took away a potential leadoff double from Daunte Stuart in the third inning. Left fielder Cam Chick quelled a potential ninth-inning threat, making a diving catch in the left-center field gap to rob Rowlett of his second double of the game and allow Emmett Olson to finish a seven-out save.

In addition to Carver’s strong outing, NSU reliever Dawson Flowers kept the Demons in striking distance, working three innings of one-hit, shutout relief, marking the longest outing of his NSU career.

“On Friday, when it’s a tight game and you’re behind, you need somebody to extend a little bit,” Barbier said. “You don’t want to go to (Andrew) Cossio when you’re down 2-0. We played two mid-week games. We had a lot of guys who probably could have pitched, but I’d rather them not. That’s two good ones in a row for (Flowers). It’s good to see him getting back in shape.”

The two-game series concludes Saturday morning at 11. Right-hander Johnathan Harmon (1-0, 1.80) is set to start for Northwestern State. Nebraska, which played UT Arlington following Friday morning’s game, has yet to announce a starter.

Nebraska 2, Northwestern State 0
Nebraska 000 002 000 – 2 8 0
NSU 000 000 000 – 0 5 0
W – Koty Frank (1-0). L – Cal Carver (0-2). S – Emmett Olson (1). 2B – NU, Efry Cervantes. NSU, Bo Willis, Gray Rowlett. HR – NU, Griffin Everitt (1). Highlights: NU, Brice Matthews 2-4.
Records: Nebraska 2-6; Northwestern State 3-6.