Demons notch doubleheader sweep of McNeese

NATCHITOCHES – It took the Northwestern State baseball team almost three seasons under head coach Bobby Barbier before it swept a doubleheader.

It took considerably less time for the Demons to do it again.

Caleb Ricca’s RBI fielder’s choice in the eighth inning snapped a 5-all tie and lifted the Demons to a 6-5 victory in the nightcap of a Southland Conference doubleheader against McNeese at Brown-Stroud Field. Coupled with Nathan Jones’ complete-game, three-hit shutout in the first game, it gave the Demons their second doubleheader sweep in the past three weekends.

“It was a good, hard-fought game on both sides, a well-played game on both sides,” said Barbier, whose team also swept Nicholls in an April 5 doubleheader. “It kept going back and forth. We had energy in the dugout. It’s hard. We played 18 innings of clean baseball today. We attacked the strike zone on the mound and in our at-bats, and we played good defense like we always do. Credit to our guys when we lost the lead late, we fought back to get it.”

While Jones made things very smooth in the opener, Northwestern State (23-15, 12-9) had to ride a bit of a roller coaster in the nightcap.

Hilton Brown’s second home run of the weekend gave the Demons a 1-0 lead in the second and began a round of home run derby as McNeese (20-20, 7-11) got third-inning solo home runs from Julian Gonzales and Carson Maxwell to take the lead.

The back-and-forth affair continued throughout as neither team led by more than one run at any point.

With the game tied at 5 in the eighth inning, McNeese threatened to put together another late-inning rally similar to its game-winning, ninth-inning surge Friday night.

Clayton Rasbeary, whose two-run home run gave McNeese a 4-3 lead in the sixth, led off the eighth with a single before Nate Fisback drew a walk and Jake Dickerson followed with a single to load the bases.

From there, Jerry Maddox (3-3) delivered one of the biggest escapes of his career.

Maddox struck out Dustin Duhon, Gonzales and Reid Bourque to wiggle out of the jam and keep the game tied, setting up the Demons’ game-winning eighth inning.

The Demons’ rally started when Peyton Davis reached on a passed ball after striking out against Aidan Anderson (1-4).

Marshall Skinner followed with his third single of the day – all against Anderson, who struck out 12 Demons’ hitters in 6 1-3 innings of work in two 2018 appearances. Skinner’s hit forced McNeese to go to left-hander Will Dion, who had struck out four in two perfect innings of work Friday night.

Dion wasn’t as sharp Saturday, walking Sam Taylor on five pitches to load the bases before Ricca’s slow roller to second base brought in the game-winning run.

“Big at-bats with two strikes,” Barbier said. “Aidan does a good job of keeping the ball away, and we were trying to get the guys to hit the ball the other way, really let the ball travel and Marshall bought into that. He bought into that and did a really good job of hitting the ball the other way.”

While Friday’s game and Saturday’s second game hung in the balance throughout, the Demons made quick work of the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader behind a dominant outing from Jones (5-2).

Jones’ last two outings were shortened by rain and by a forearm cramp, but he was unstoppable Saturday. Jones needed only 96 pitches, throwing 67 for strikes, to author Northwestern State’s first complete-game shutout of the season. It was Jones’ first career shutout and his fourth career complete game as the Demons grabbed a 6-0 win.

“Honestly the first three innings, I did not feel good at all,” Jones said. “I didn’t feel like I had my stuff, but the infield, especially Ricca and Sammy T (Taylor) were making some tremendous plays. I kept throwing a little two-seamer in there, hoping they’d make the plays, and they had my back the entire game.”

Jones scattered three hits and did not walk a batter, allowing only Dickerson to reach scoring position. Having broken a tie for sixth on the Demons’ all-time list for career starts, Jones struck out the final two batters of the game to give him five on the day and 197 in his career, tying Jason Slanina for fifth on NSU’s career list.

Jones’ dominant outing did not require much offensive support, but fellow senior Austin Stegall gave it to Jones early, slamming a two-run home run off McNeese starter Jonathan Ellison (2-3) in the second inning.

That was the first of consecutive two-run innings as the Demons rebounded from being held to three hits in Friday’s series opener to rap out 22 hits in the doubleheader sweep.

Brown had five of those hits, going 5-for-8 with three RBIs in the sweep. Brown collected eight RBIs in the three-game series, hitting his first two collegiate home runs in the process. Brown credited a recent bat change for his hot hitting.

“I originally was swinging a 33(-inch) bat at the beginning of the year,” said Brown, who went 6-for-12 against the Cowboys on the weekend. “A couple of series ago, I switched to a 32 a couple of series ago, and it felt really good in my hands. It helps me stay short to the ball. I know even if I’m beat, I’m able to foul off pitches.”

Skinner (3-for-4) and Brown (2-for-4) had two of NSU’s five multi-hit performances in the nightcap as Jeffrey Elkins (2-for-5, home run), Ricca (2-for-5) and Stegall (2-for-4) also contributed more than one hit apiece to the Demons’ 13-hit attack.

The Demons start a five-game road trip at Arkansas on Tuesday. NSU faces the Razorbacks and former Demons skipper Dave Van Horn on Tuesday and Wednesday before traveling to Nacogdoches, Texas, for a three-game series at Stephen F. Austin.

Northwestern State 6-6, McNeese 0-5

Game 1

McNeese            000 000 000 – 0 3 1

NSU       022 010 00x – 6 9 0

W – Nathan Jones (5-2). L – Jonathan Ellison (2-3). 2B – McNeese, Jake Dickerson. NSU, Jeffrey Elkins, Austin Stegall. HR – NSU, Stegall (4). Highlights: NSU, Hilton Brown 3-4, RBI; Stegall 2-2, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs.

Game 2

McNeese            002 002 100 – 5 9 1

NSU       010 201 11x – 6 13 0

W – Jerry Maddox (3-3). L – Aidan Anderson (1-4). 2B – NSU, Hilton Brown, Austin Stegall. HR – McNeese, Carson Maxwell (8); Clayton Rasbeary (7); Julian Gonzales (1). NSU, Jeffrey Elkins (2); Brown (2). Highlights: McNeese, Payton Harden 2-4, RBI; Rasbeary 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Jake Dickerson 3-4. NSU, Caleb Ricca 2-5, RBI; Brown 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs; Stegall 2-4, 2B; Marshall Skinner 3-4, RBI.

Records: McNeese 20-20, 7-11; Northwestern State 23-15, 12-9.