CONWAY, Ark. – Little this Northwestern State baseball team has done this season has been conventional.
 
So after surrendering a two-run, ninth-inning lead Sunday, it only made sense for the Demons to return the favor to host Central Arkansas.
 
Back-to-back RBI singles by Kelsey Richard and Matthew Alford in the 10^th inning helped Northwestern State recover from a tough ninth inning and lift the Demons to a Southland Conference series-clinching 7-5 victory at Bear Stadium.
 
"We showed a lot of resolve and perseverance there," said fourth-year head coach Lane Burroughs, who notched his 100^th career victory as the Demons skipper. "You come to the ballpark, and you don't know what you're going to see. I've never been in one like this. I feel for (UCA) coach (Allen) Gum to lose a game like that."
 
The series victory allowed the Demons (20-18, 11-10) to move into sole possession of fifth place in the league standings.
 
Backed by solo home runs by Cort Binson, David Fry and Nick Heath, the Demons took a 3-2 lead into the fifth inning before the Bears (16-22, 7-11) tied things on a Tyler Langley RBI single.
 
After UCA's first game-tying rally, the Demons took the upper hand in the battle of bullpens as Nathan Jones kept the Bears off the board from the sixth through the eighth innings, allowing NSU to take the lead on Cade Jones' eighth-inning RBI double.
 
"He talked me out of bunting," Burroughs said. "He said he'd played against (UCA pitcher Tyler Gray) his whole life. He said, 'I can get a ball and pull it.' Well, he didn't pull it to get him over, but we scored a run."
 
NSU added an insurance run in the ninth as Fry delivered a sacrifice fly before Chris Townsend tied the game with a one-out, two-run double.
 
The Bears loaded the bases before the Demons went to their Bear – junior left-hander Devin Bear (1-1). Bear went to a full count against left-handed hitting Matt Anderson before painting the outside corner with a fastball.
 
Bear followed that up with a called strikeout of Justin McCarty to strand the bases loaded.
 
"That's my job, go in those tight situations and get outs," said Bear, who worked a scoreless 10^th inning for his first career victory. "If the person in front of you isn't doing it, you've got to go in and help them out."
 
The Demons did not waste the momentum from Bear's pressure-packed pitching.
 
Spencer Goodwin drew a four-pitch walk before Chris Durham (3-5) hit Matt Valdez with a pitch. Gum brought in Ty Tice from right field to pitch, and Tice jumped ahead of Kelsey Richard, who failed to get a bunt down on the first two pitches.
 
Richard, who entered in the seventh inning, worked the count to 2-2 before grounding the tiebreaking single back through the middle.
 
"I struggled getting the bunt down, obviously, and I had to stay in the moment, get something on the ground and get the run in," Richard said. "It's a great confidence builder. We've been struggling a bit at the plate, but this shows we can do it and lets everyone know we can do it."
 
All nine starters and Richard had a hit and all 11 Demons hitters who came to the plate reached base. Brinson and Fry notched multi-hit games for Northwestern State while Brooks Balisterri and Townsend each had three hits for Central Arkansas.
  NSU       201 000 011 2 – 7 12 2
UCA       200 010 002 0 – 5 11 1
W – Devin Bear (1-1). L – Chris Durham (3-5). 2B – NSU, David Fry; Cade Jones. UCA, Chris Townsend. HR – NSU, Cort Brinson (1), Fry (6), Nick Heath (2). Highlights: NSU, Brinson 2-5, HR, RBI; Fry 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs. UCA, Brooks Balisterri 3-5; Townsend 3-6, 2B, 2 RBIs; Brandon Montalvo 2-3.
Records: Northwestern State 20-18, 11-10; Central Arkansas 16-22, 7-11.