Twin Demon rallies fall short as UIW sweeps doubleheader

NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State baseball team found a different way to win in the series opener against Incarnate Word on Friday night.

The Demons tried to go back to the well twice more Sunday in the series-ending doubleheader. Unfortunately for Northwestern State, both rallies came up just short.

The Demons fell behind by six runs early in Sunday’s first game and then trailed by at least four runs on three occasions in the nightcap, ultimately falling 6-5 and 12-9 to the visiting Cardinals, who picked up their first series win against the Demons.

“We swung the bat as good as we have all year,” third-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. “We had good at-bats. We competed hard at the plate. They’ve got a really good team. When we made mistakes, they hammered every one of them with doubles and homers. We have to play better. That’s all it is. Every time we made a mistake, they took advantage of that, too.”

The Demons (29-21, 14-13) played from behind in both games Sunday, never taking a lead.

In the opener, the Cardinals (34-17, 17-10) used a pair of early home runs to take a 6-0 lead against Nathan Jones (7-3) after three innings.

Ryan Gonzalez’ leadoff homer in the second inning put UIW ahead after Jones had a perfect, six-pitch first inning. An inning later, Lee Thomas’ grand slam highlighted a five-run frame that extended the lead to six.

Jones recovered and settled in across his final three innings, shutting out the Cardinals before handing the ball over to Austin Reich, who struck out four and allowed only one hit in three scoreless innings of relief.

That pitching allowed the Demons to slowly chip away at the deficit, starting with Sam Taylor’s fifth-inning RBI single.

From there, the Demons took advantage of a rare day when the wind was blowing out at Brown-Stroud Field.

Taylor’s single chased UIW starter Tyler Miller and brought in Bernie Martinez (9-1), who suffered the loss in Friday’s series opener.

Martinez worked the final 4 1-3 innings, but the Demons touched him up for three home runs across the final three innings to make things interesting.

Senior Austin Stegall led off the seventh inning with a first-pitch solo home run before Jeffrey Elkins did the same in the eighth inning, cutting the lead to 6-3.

Lenni Kunert continued the first-pitch, leadoff assault against Martinez, tripling to right-center to start the ninth before Stegall connected on his second home run in as many at-bats to slice the lead to one.

Martinez quelled the threat, retiring the next three Demons.

The Demons were unable to build on the momentum early in the nightcap as UIW struck for four first-inning runs against Cullen McDonald, who lasted 1-3 of an inning.

Jerry Maddox (4-4) entered and quieted the threat and continued NSU’s strong bullpen work from the first two games of the series.

Maddox shut out the Cardinals through the fourth inning, allowing Kunert’s second-inning solo home run to jump start the Demons’ offense, which came through with a three-run third inning to even the game.

However, a throwing error led to an unearned run in the Cardinals’ fifth, putting UIW ahead to stay in the wild finale, which ended after eight innings because of the Southland Conference’s curfew rule.

Trailing by four for the second time in the game after Taylor Smith’s three-run home run in the sixth, the Demons answered with three runs on Tyler Smith’s RBI double and a two-run J.P. Lagreco single.

After seeing their lead cut to one, the Cardinals responded with one final rally for which the Demons had no full answer.

With a runner on and two outs in the seventh, Peyton Graham struck out Antonio Valdez, who reached on a wild pitch and a two-base throwing error. Ryan Gonzalez followed with a two-run home run to give the Cardinals’ their third four-run lead of the game.

The lead reached five on Thomas’ solo home run before Tyler Smith knocked in two runs with no outs in the eighth before Luke Taggart retired the next three Demons.

NSU pounded out 27 hits in the doubleheader, including 16 in the nightcap. Caleb Ricca and Stegall each had five hits in the twinbill while Jeffrey Elkins added four and Kunert had three.

Tyler Smith, Kunert and Stegall all drove in three runs in the doubleheader, which marked the first time in six twinbills this season where the Demons did not grab at least one win.

The Demons conclude the season with a four-game road trip, beginning Tuesday night at ULM. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Warhawk Field.

Incarnate Word 6-12, Northwestern State 5-9

Game 1

UIW      015 000 000 – 6 7 0

NSU       000 010 112 – 5 11 0

W – Bernie Martinez (9-1). L – Nathan Jones (7-3). 3B – NSU, Lenni Kunert. HR – UIW, Ryan Gonzalez (6); Lee Thomas (11). NSU, Jeffrey Elkins (3), Austin Stegall 2 (7). Highlights: UIW, Ryan Flores 2-4; Thomas 2-4, HR, 4 RBIs. NSU, Sam Taylor 2-4, RBI; Elkins 2-4, HR, RBI; Stegall 3-4, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs.

Game 2

UIW      400 103 31 – 12 13 0

NSU       013 003 02 – 9 16 3

W – John Shull (2-0). L – Jerry Maddox (4-4). 2B – UIW, Eddy Gonzalez; Shea Gutierrez. NSU, Sam Taylor; Tyler Smith 2; Hilton Brown. 3B – UIW, Antonio Valdez. NSU, Caleb Ricca. HR – UIW, Ryan Gonzalez (7); Taylor Smith (14); Lee Thomas (12). NSU, Lenni Kunert (1). Highlights: UIW, Valez 3-5, 3B, RBI; R. Gonzalez 4-5, HR, 3 RBIs; E. Gonzalez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Thomas 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs. NSU, Ricca 4-5, 3B, RBI; Jeffrey Elkins 2-4, RBI; Tyler Smith 2-5, 2 2Bs, 3 RBIs; Kunert 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Austin Stegall 2-4.

Records: Incarnate Word 34-17, 17-10; Northwestern State 29-21, 14-13.