CONWAY, Ark. – The recipe for success on Friday nights  has been simple for Northwestern State's baseball team – a strong Adam Oller start and some timely hitting.
 
It happened at Bear Stadium on Friday night as David Fry's two-out, eighth-inning RBI single provided the winning margin in the Demons' 3-2 Southland Conference victory against Central Arkansas.
 
"We hadn't had a lot of that this season," fourth-year head coach Lane Burroughs said of how the Demons have fared in one-run contests this season. "It was a quality start by Adam. I didn't think he was sharp early. He didn't have his best stuff. He just competed.
 
"That was a tremendous at-bat by David Fry with the two-out hit to bring home the winning run."
 
The Demons improved to 19-17 overall and 10-9 in conference play thanks to Fry's big hit.
 
Starting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, Bret Underwood battled Connor Gilmore (2-7) to a full-count before launching a double to left field to start the eighth. Underwood took third base on a throwing error on the play.
 
Gilmore got the next two Demons on a strikeout and a groundout before Fry yanked a single into left field to score Underwood with the tiebreaking run.
 
Oller (5-0) struggled with his fastball command early before reining it in but commanded his offspeed offerings well enough to keep the game close in the early going.
 
After the Demons scored a first-inning run on a Fry sacrifice fly, Logan Preston connected for his first home run of the season off Oller to lead off the second inning.
 
UCA (15-21, 6-10) then manufactured a third-inning run to take a 2-1 lead before Oller settled in and rattled off five straight scoreless innings.
 
No inning was bigger for Oller than the eighth. He began the inning with 110 pitches and surrendered a one-out double to Brandon Montalvo. Oller got Preston to fly out to right for the second out before striking out Austin White to end the inning.
 
"The first four innings they got me deep into counts, because I wasn't able to throw a fastball for a strike," said Oller, who moved into 10^th place on the NSU career wins list with 17. "Luckily, my offspeed was right where it needed to be. It's nice having a one-run game go in our favor this time."
 
Once Oller fanned White for the third time and the Demons did not score in the ninth, it was up to freshman Austin Reich to pitch the ninth.
 
After striking out the first two batters of the ninth, Reich walked pinch hitter Matt Anderson before striking out Tyler Langley on a 2-2 count to end the game.
 
NSU improved to 2-7 in one-run games in Southland play.
 
"I felt real good today," Reich said. "I had to bounce back from (a blown save) at UNO and get us a win. I know my defense is always working behind me, and I wasn't trying to overdo anything."
 
Underwood paced the Demons' offense, going 2-for-5 with his second home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center that tied the game at 2 in the fifth inning.
 
The series continues Saturday with a 4 p.m. matinee matchup. Northwestern State will send left-hander Chase Hymel (2-4, 3.10) to the mound against Central Arkansas right-hander Cody Davenport (2-2, 3.81). The game will air on 100.7 FM KZBL with free streaming audio available at www.NSUDemons.com.
  NSU       100 010 010 – 3 7 0
UCA       011 000 000 – 2 8 1
W – Adam Oller (5-0). L – Connor Gilmore (2-7). S – Austin Reich (2). 2B – NSU, Bret Underwood. UCA, Brandon Montalvo. HR – NSU, Bret Underwood (2). UCA, Logan Preston (1). Highlights: NSU, Underwood 2-5, 2B, HR, RBI; UCA, Chris Townsend 2-4; Montalvo 2-4, RBI.
Records: Northwestern State 19-17, 10-9; Central Arkansas 15-21, 6-10.