Demons hang on to split doubleheader, series with South Dakota State

NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State baseball team proved again it could respond to adversity Saturday afternoon.

The Demons found out visiting South Dakota State was equally capable of that as the teams split a series-ending doubleheader at Brown-Stroud Field.

Northwestern State held on for a 13-9 victory in Saturday’s nightcap after the Jackrabbits did the same in a 4-2 victory in the opener. Both games were seven-inning affairs to cap the series that was presented by the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission.

“This game’s crazy,” sixth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. “You never know what’s going to happen. I thought we did a really good job responding after the tough one in the first one. It’s easy, already having lost two games in a weekend, to sulk about it, but we had more energy in that second game. We got a good start on the mound and responded well.”

After falling in the first game, the Demons (9-11) broke quickly in game two, putting six of their first seven hitters on base en route to a nine-run first inning against South Dakota State starter Drew Beazley (0-2) and reliever Jake Goble.

Daunte Stuart, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, had the most impactful hit of the inning, a three-run double off Goble to cap the uprising. Stuart added a two-out, two-run home run off Goble in the third inning and finished 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs.

“It was huge for us, especially coming off the loss,” Stuart said of the fast start in Game 2. “We came together and said, ‘You know what? We lost that game. Let’s have a short-term memory and win the next game.’ We were looking to strike from the beginning, and it worked out.”

Sophomore right-hander Drayton Brown (2-2) was the beneficiary of the early run support, and he made it stand.

Making the fifth start of his career, Brown struck out a career-high eight batters, holding South Dakota State (6-12) to three runs in five innings.

Brown made his biggest pitches in the fourth inning after the first four Jackrabbits reached base and South Dakota State had cut the NSU lead to 11-3. Brown induced three consecutive popups to keep the momentum on the Demons’ side.

“He commanded the game on the mound,” Barbier said. “In the third, he was really able to tighten the belt. He pitched really well in those tough spots. The rest of our pitching staff needs to keep working toward that – when it gets tight to really do a good job of executing pitches.”

The Demons answered South Dakota State’s two-run fourth with two of their own on Jake Haze’s two-run double in the bottom half.

Brown and Chase Prestwich maintained the 10-run advantage before the Jackrabbits mounted one last charge, scoring six runs in the ninth inning before Josh Banes entered and retired the final two hitters with runners on first and second to end the game and push NSU to a 6-2 mark on its current nine-game homestand.

“They did a good job in the end,” Barbier said of the Jackrabbits. “They strung together five or six hits in a row off a pretty good arm.”

Stuart and Larson Fontenot (2-for-3, 2 RBIs) had multi-hit games for the Demons in the nightcap.

In the opener, it was the Demons who had to settle for a seventh-inning rally that fell short.

Northwestern State took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Cameron Parikh’s first career home run – an opposite-field shot into the right-field bullpen.

That was all the Demons could manage against left-hander Cody Carlson (3-2), who picked up the win thanks to a two-run fifth inning against Johnathan Harmon (2-2) and a Houdini-like escape by Jackrabbit closer Bret Barnett.

NSU appeared to be in prime position to answer the Jackrabbits’ two-run inning after loading the bases on a Bailyn Sorensen double, a Gabe Colaianni walk and Cam Sibley’s bunt single.

Carlson issued a ball to Parikh on the first pitch before South Dakota State turned to it’s left-handed closer Barnett, who struck out all three Demons he faced in the fifth to maintain the one-run lead.

“It’s tough in a short game,” Barbier said. “That allowed them to bring in their really good closer, who was able to pitch three innings. We had our chances and didn’t get it done.”

Luke Ira’s two-run double in the seventh gave Barnett a needed cushion as pinch hitter Jacob Farrell drew a leadoff walk and scored on a wild pitch. Barnett got a strikeout of Gray Rowlett to end the game with runners on first and second.

Parikh had three of NSU’s seven hits, going 3-for-4 as part of a doubleheader in which he was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs.

The Demons return to action Tuesday night when they cap their season-long, nine-game homestand by hosting Grambling. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Brown-Stroud Field.

South Dakota State 4-9, Northwestern State 2-13
Game 1
SDSU 000 020 2 – 4 5 0
NSU 001 000 1 – 2 7 1
W – Cody Carlson (3-2). L – Johnathan Harmon (2-2). S – Bret Barnett (3). 2B – SDSU, Luke Ira, Owen Bishop. NSU, Bailyn Sorensen. HR – NSU, Cameron Parikh (1). Highlights: NSU, Parikh 3-4, HR, RBI.
Game 2
SDSU 010 200 6 – 9 11 2
NSU 902 200 x – 13 9 1
W – Drayton Brown (2-2). L – Drew Beazley (0-2). S – Josh Banes (1). 2B – SDSU, Owen Bishop. NSU, Daunte Stuart, Jake Haze. HR – SDSU, Ryan McDonald (3). NSU, Daunte Stuart (2). Highlights: SDSU, McDonald 2-3, HR, RBI; Bishop 3-4, 2B, 3 RBIs; Thatcher Kozal 2-4, RBI. NSU, Stuart 3-4, 2B, HR, 5 RBIs; Larson Fontenot 2-3, 2 RBIs.
Records: South Dakota State 6-12; Northwestern State 9-11.