Demons drop series finale at first-place Lamar

BEAUMONT, Texas – The Northwestern State baseball team endured another slow offensive start Sunday afternoon in its Southland Conference series finale at Lamar.

This time, however, the Demons could not overcome an early deficit and dropped the rubber game of the series 7-1 to the Cardinals at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

“Another one of those days in which we got exactly what we deserved from the game and from the opponent,” first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. “We didn’t execute pitches in the early parts of the ballgame to have the ability to suppress runs, and we didn’t do anything offensively for the first six innings or so to pressure their pitching staff or their defense. We continue and continue to compete. By no means was it a bad weekend, but it’s a weekend we have to take some learning and some lessons with us. We have to a better job early in ball games in offensive execution and pitch execution.”

Northwestern State (19-28, 10-11) could not muster much offense against Lamar left-hander Hunter Hesseltine (6-1), who tossed six scoreless innings and scattered three hits – all singles.

The Cardinals (36-10, 14-4) gave Hesseltine all the offense he needed in the first inning, taking advantage of a pair of hit by pitches by NSU starter Dawson Flowers (2-4) to jump start a four-run first inning.

Both hit batters came around to score against Flowers, who hit three batters in 3 1-3 innings and allowed seven runs before the Demon bullpen came in and turned the final 4 2-3 innings into a pitchers’ duel.

Freshman Dylan Marionneaux retired the first nine batters he faced before Tanner Wilson singled with one out in the seventh. Marionneaux retired the next two batters he faced, keeping the deficit at seven.

A right-hander from Zachary, Marionneaux spun 3 2-3 innings of shutout relief, combining with Adam Alexis to keep the Cardinals scoreless across the final four-plus innings.

“He faced 11 batters and got nine of 11 first-pitch strikes,” Bertrand said. “He pitched from a position of attack and from a position of advantage. As those things unfold, he gains confidence in a way that allows him to go out and execute pitches that end up hanging zeroes.”

Hesseltine limited the Demons to one hit – Hayden Knotts’ one-out single in the third — through four innings before Colin Rains and Lathen Buzard had back-to-back, one-out singles in the fifth. A groundout and a strikeout allowed Hesseltine to strand them in scoring position.

The Lamar left-hander repeated that feat in the sixth, leaving Reese Lipoma and Balin Valentine in scoring position.

The Demons broke through against Jackson Cleveland in the eighth as Valentine extended his career-long hitting streak to 14 games with a two-out single and scored on Bo Willis’ RBI double.

Rains finished with a career-high three hits for NSU, which left seven on base.

The Demons return to action Tuesday when they travel to LSU. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Alex Box Stadium.

Lamar 7, Northwestern State 1
NSU 000 000 010 – 1 7 0
Lamar 401 200 00x – 7 8 1
W – Hunter Hesseltine (6-1). L – Dawson Flowers (2-4). S – Jackson Cleveland (4). 2B – NSU, Bo Willis. LU, Brayden Evans, Jack Schell. Highlights: NSU, Colin Rains 3-4. LU, Evans 2-4, 2B, RBI.
Records: Northwestern State xx-2x, 1x-1x; Lamar 3x-1x, 1x-x.