Box Score HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The top three spots of the Sam Houston State lineup drove in seven runs to help the Bearkats even the series with a 9-4 win over the Northwestern State baseball team in a three-game Southland Conference set Saturday afternoon at Don Sanders Stadium.
 
The rubber match between the Demons (13-12, 5-3 SLC) and Bearkats (19-9, 4-4 SLC) is slated for 1 o'clock on Sunday.  Patrick Netherton will have the call on 100.7 KZBL-FM in Natchitoches and online at NSUDemons.com. The Demons took game one 12-1 on Friday.
 
Colt Atwood, Ryan O'Hearn and Hutner Courson had two runs batted in apiece, and Anthony Azar knocked in one.  Azar started the game in the third spot, but was replaced by Courson after his first at-bat.
 
The Bearkats scored four runs in the fourth inning, which started with a double down the left field line from Corey Toups.  Toups advanced to third base on a bleeder to the pitcher from Carter Burgess.  Demon starter John Gault slipped right before he could get to the ball.
 
Gault lasted four innings and allowed seven runs (five earned) on nine hits and a hit by pitch.
 
Toups scored on a fielder's choice to shortstop off the bat of Shea Pierce that got Burgess at second base. Luke Plucheck singled to left field to put Bearkats for first and second bases before Colt Atwood loaded the bases with an infield single.
 
Back-to-back singles from Ryan O'Hearn and Hunter Courson scored all three.
 
"Defensively we just broke down today," said second-year head coach Lane Burroughs. "We don't turn a double play (in the fourth) and that was critical.  It came back to bite us.  We had a play where we didn't cover second and had no play because of it.
 
"We just didn't play good defense today, all the way around," he said."
 
The Demons opened the ball game with two runs in the first inning, and the Bearkats answered with one in their frame of the first.
 
Joel Atkinson had a one-out single through the left side, and advanced to third base on a passed ball during Caleb Dugas' at-bat.  Dugas drew a full-count walk before he and Atkinson advanced on a wild pitch in the next at-bat. Cort Brinson reached base one at-bat later after being hit by a pitch, and Dugas scored on a fielder's choice from Chase Daughdrill and throwing error by SHSU's Shea Pierce.
 
Sam Houston took the lead in the third inning on an RBI single from Atwood, and sacrifice fly from Courson.
 
Regan Kaufman tied the game in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly to score Daughdrill, who reached when he was hit by a pitch in the first at-bat of the inning, before Sam Houston used the four runs in the fourth inning to make it 7-3.
 
The Demon cut it to 7-4 on a single to right field by Edwin Gomez to score Kaufman in the sixth inning, but the Kats added two more in the seventh.
 
Evan Tidwell relieved Gault and pitched 2.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on five this and three strikeouts.  Josh Morris finished the game with 1.1 innings pitched and one hit allowed.
 
The Demons finished with four hits, three from the top three spots in the lineup, and two RBIs.  Sam Houston had 15 hits.
 
The Demons had a couple of chances to add to the score in the second inning, but a one-out safety-squeeze bunt from Garret Logan went awry, and Kaufman was stranded at third.
 
"We had a chance early and a couple of opportunities to jump on them, "said Burroughs. "We had a safety squeeze and popped it up; if we get that down we're up 3-1 and who knows.  We had the bases loaded a little later in the game and couldn't do anything with it."
 
NSU loaded the bases in the fourth inning with two outs, but was not able to take advantage.
 
"We didn't drive in the runs we needed to drive in or get the big hits," he said.
 
The Demons play two midweek games, the first on Tuesday against Grambling and the second at Louisiana Tech on Wednesday.