RUSTON – Two years ago, Chase Daughdrill sat in the stands at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park and watched Northwestern State lose its final midweek baseball game of the 2013 season to Louisiana Tech.
 
As the Demons prepare for their final midweek game of 2015 – Tuesday's 6 p.m. matchup at Louisiana Tech – both Daughdrill and the Demons have come quite a ways since that May night two years ago.
 
"At that point, coach (Lane) Burroughs told me, 'It's going to be like a JUCO all-star team,'" Daughdrill said.  "When we first got here two years ago in the fall, we knew we would be good, but we didn't know how good. Watching this team come together these last two years has been incredible."
 
The Demons (29-19) enter the back end of the home-and-home series with the Bulldogs (23-25) a season-best 10 games over .500 and on a five-game win streak.
 
Northwestern State has won 62 games in a season-plus since Daughdrill and his signing class arrived in Natchitoches.
 
Daughdrill has done his share to restore the Demons to their post among the Southland Conference's best teams. He was a first-team All-Louisiana selection at third base as a junior and currently leads the Demons in doubles (12) and triples (4) while ranking second on the team in batting average (.340), home runs (4) and walks (23).
 
"We set the foundation and culture and what we expect," Burroughs said. "Then you get the players in here, and that's how you turn a program around. To think of where we were two years ago and where we are now – the second straight year going into the last weekend with a chance to win our league – that's all you can ask. I can't say enough about Chase and all these seniors we brought into our program that first year. They've helped set the tone and lay the foundation for the future on the field, off the field, in the classroom. I couldn't be more proud of those guys."
 
Four of the Demons' current regulars came from that class of junior-college transfers – Daughdrill, shortstop Joel Atkinson, first baseman Caleb Dugas and catcher/designated hitter C.J. Webster. Pitchers Josh Oller, Hunter Duvic and Brandon Smith also were part of the class that added to a talented first group of signees under Burroughs. Bret Underwood, a 20^th-round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants who returned to NSU but was injured early this season, is another key piece of that second-year class.
 
Daughdrill had the closest ties geographically to Northwestern State. Daughdrill is a product of two Bossier Parish schools – Airline High School and Bossier Parish Community College. His pre-college career led him to cross paths with several players on the Louisiana Tech roster, but that isn't the closest relationship Daughdrill has with Ruston.
 
That comes in the form of his sister, Caroline, a Louisiana Tech nursing student. Daughdrill's family has been a constant in the Brown-Stroud Field stands and on road trips this season, as Chase Daughdrill takes in his final collegiate season.
 
Despite their closeness, there is a sibling rivalry between the Daughdrills.
 
"My mom and my family have always been there for me throughout my career, and I have always appreciated what they've done for me," Daughdrill said. "With my sister there, it's a little bit of a family feud, a rivalry. She said, 'Go Dogs,' the other day after our win at Abilene Christian. It's always nice to get to see my sister. I don't get to see her much with her being in nursing clinicals. It's very rewarding to get to play up there, and it's even more rewarding when we go up there and play well."
 
The Demons return to action Thursday when they host Nicholls in the 6:30 p.m. opener of a three-game, season-ending series at Brown-Stroud Field. The series runs through Saturday.