MANHATTAN, Kansas – After spending the past three days familiarizing themselves with one Big 12 Conference team, the Northwestern State baseball team continues its tour of the Big 12 in another unfamiliar locale.
 
One key difference in the Demons' two-game series with Kansas State, which begins Tuesday at 3 p.m., is there will be a recognizable face in the opposing dugout.
 
Former Northwestern State skipper Mitch Gaspard is in his first season as the associate head coach with the Wildcats (9-2). Gaspard coached the Demons for six seasons from 2002-07, recruiting and mentoring current Demons head coach Bobby Barbier.
 
Barbier spent five seasons on Gaspard's staff at Alabama before returning to his alma mater to become its pitching coach and now its head coach.
 
"It will be a lot of fun to catch up and see him," Barbier said. "We talk twice a week still. It will be neat to catch up in person, but the focus is on us getting better. Whether it's (UL) Lafayette, Kansas, Kansas State, whoever it is, that's our focus."
 
Barbier's relationship with Gaspard remains intact as does a mutual respect between the two.
 
"I feel one of the top qualities a person can have is being trustworthy," Gaspard said prior to the beginning of the season. "In my years of being a head coach, Bobby was one of the most trustworthy players and coaches I have had in my 27 years in the profession. I have no doubt everyone in his program will develop an endless trust in his words and actions that will lead to success both on the diamond and in real life."
 
The Demons (4-6) saw some offensive improvement during the weekend series against Kansas, scoring 16 runs in the three games. Northwestern State snapped a four-game losing streak with a 7-6, 10-inning victory on Sunday.
 
The 14 runs Northwestern State put up in the final two games of the series with Kansas marks the Demons' biggest output in consecutive games this season.
 
NSU likely will need to keep its offensive momentum going as the Wildcats enter the series with a .294 team batting average and score an average of 7.2 runs per game, which ranks 59^th nationally.
 
Kansas State scored at least 12 runs in each of its three games in a weekend sweep of Eastern Illinois, and the Wildcats have been held to less no less than three runs in each of their first 11 games of the season.
 
The Demons will send a pair of right-handed starters to the mound with Dan Hlad (0-1, 4.50) drawing the start Tuesday and Cullen McDonald (0-0, 1.29) taking the mound Wednesday. Kansas State counters with a pair of right-handers, Colton Kalmus (0-0, 9.00) and Caleb Littlejim (0-0, 0.00).