CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The big one has arrived for the Northwestern State baseball team.

At 9 a.m. Thursday, the Demons hit the road to begin a 10-game, 23-day road trip that will cover 3,545 miles and games in three states and two time zones.

The baseball side of the journey begins Friday night at 6 when the Demons start a three-game series at Southland Conference rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The next two weekends find the Demons traveling to Notre Dame and Abilene Christian, respectively.

"It's been staring us in the face all year and now it's here," third-year head coach Lane Burroughs said. "First thing's first, we've got Corpus. I have no qualms about saying it. I picked Corpus to win our league. Coach (Scott) Malone has a good team, all of his guys coming back. He'll be the first to tell you they haven't played the way they thought or the way they wanted, but I know how dangerous they are."

The Demons (22-17, 14-6) and Islanders (19-17, 9-9) both were picked to finish in the upper third of the Southland by both league coaches and sports information directors.
Northwestern State has overcome injuries to a handful of projected regulars to move into second place, 1 game behind conference-leading Southeastern Louisiana, with nine conference games remaining.

The Islanders enter the weekend in eighth place in the conference, on the cutline for next month's Southland Conference Tournament in Sugar Land, Texas. The Islanders' starting rotation is fronted by right-hander Matt Danton (3-5, 1.93) and left-hander Trevor Belicek (7-2, 3.10), who leads the Southland Conference in strikeouts with 83.

"I remember Belicek in the Saturday game last year, he was absolutely putting it on us," Burroughs said "We didn't get a hit until the sixth or seventh inning. He was absolutely filthy. We've got a tough road to hoe."

Northwestern State enters the weekend series having won its last two conference series and five of its first seven league matchups of the year. The Demons split a two-game series at Stephen F. Austin that was cut short by weather and field conditions last month in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Included in the Demons' series victory against Central Arkansas last weekend in Natchitoches was the squad's fourth walkoff win of the season, the third in Southland play.

"There's no secret here – we were scuffling," Burroughs said. "Even winning some games, I didn't feel like we were playing really good ball. It's like that looming thunderstorm. You know it's coming and it's going to hit you. It's just a matter of time. I feel like we were in the middle of that storm. We were winning some games, but we weren't necessarily playing good baseball. I thought there were some things in the ninth (inning Saturday) that energized our guys.

"We weren't playing with a lot of energy and feeling sorry for ourselves, and you can put me in there too. We all had our bad body language, but some things happened in that ninth inning that energized us, some things I hadn't seen before. It can be a turning point."

After Friday's game, the final two games of the series are set for afternoon start times (3 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. Sunday) at Chapman Field. Streaming audio of all three games will be available on www.nsudemons.com.

Series probable pitching matchups
Friday: NSU RHP Adam Oller (5-2, 2.31) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Matt Danton (3-5, 1.93)
Saturday: NSU RHP Josh Oller (6-1, 4.52) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi LHP Trevor Belicek (7-2, 3.10)
Sunday: NSU RHP Jeffrey Stovall (4-3, 4.96) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Devin Skapura (2-4, 4.32)
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