HAMMOND – It wasn't a Friday night, but it didn't matter to Adam Oller.
 
Commanding the strike zone with a three-pitch mix, Oller handcuffed Southeastern Louisiana, tossing his third complete game of the season in a 3-1 series-opening victory Thursday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
 
"Every day, you've got to come out and compete," said Oller, who tied a career high with nine strikeouts. "Usually, I'm on Friday night, but they had to push us up a day. You've still got to compete. That's a good team, but I felt like I had good stuff."
 
Oller (5-1) got some early offensive help, as freshman David Fry turned on a first-pitch fastball from Tate Scioneaux (5-2) and drove it off the left-field scoreboard for his second home run of the season. Fry's blast came after Scioneaux sat down the first five Demons batters he faced.
 
The Demons (17-11, 9-3) tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth, as Caleb Dugas and Matthew Alford delivered back-to-back one-out doubles. Two batters after Alford dumped a double into right-center field, Joel Atkinson shot a triple into the right-center field corner to score Alford and put NSU up 3-0.
 
Northwestern State (17-11, 9-3) broke out the defense to preserve the victory and take a half-game lead over the Lions (22-9, 9-4)
 
Southeastern Louisiana put together its best offensive threat of the game in the sixth, scoring a run on Kevin Carr's two-out double. Kennon Menard followed by chopping a single into right field.
 
Dugas charged and unleashed a perfect one-hop throw to the plate to nail Carr by five feet for the final out of the inning.
 
"Fry, being a freshman, getting that home run was huge," Oller said. "He's been big for us all year. Then Dugas saved me out there. I had a curveball the guy put a good swing on it. He throws the guy out at home on a perfect throw. You can't ask for more than that."
 
From there, Oller took care of the rest.
 
He scattered five hits and finished the game strong, throwing 117 pitches in his third complete game, all of which have come in conference play.
 
"What do you say?" third-year coach Lane Burroughs said. "That was two aces going at it. It was Adam Oller at his best. Nine strikeouts, no walks, going on short rest. His last two outings weren't great by Adam Oller's standards, and he'll tell you that. I'm just very proud of him going out and dominating on short rest. If you don't get to him early, he always settles in. He was clicking tonight."
 
The series continues Friday night when NSU's Josh Oller (5-0, 4.17) takes the mound against Southeastern Louisiana's Jake Johnson (5-0, 1.86). First pitch is set for 6 p.m. The series concludes with a 2 p.m. first pitch Saturday. Scheduled starters for Game 3 are Northwestern State right-hander Jeffrey Stovall (3-2, 4.14) and Southeastern Louisiana left-hander Kyle Cedotal (3-2, 1.74).
 
 NSU     010 020 000 – 3 8 1
SLU     000 001 000 – 1 5 0
W – Adam Oller (5-1). L – Tate Scioneaux (5-2). 2B – NSU, C.J. Webster, Caleb Dugas, Matthew Alford. SLU, Kevin Carr. 3B – NSU, Joel Atkinson. HR – NSU, David Fry (2). Highlights: NSU, Atkinson 2-4, 3B, RBI. SLU, Kennon Menard 2-4.
Records: Northwestern State 17-11, 9-3; Southeastern Louisiana 22-9, 9-4.