NATCHITOCHES – The middle part of the Northwestern State baseball team's six-game homestand has a throwback feeling to it.
Not only will the Demons honor the 1957 and 1967 Gulf States Conference championship teams and the 1997 Southland Conference champs, they also will do so against No. 23-ranked McNeese, which was the visiting team during the 2015 reunion weekend.
The Demons (12-23, 4-11) and Cowboys (26-10, 16-2) open the three-game Southland Conference series at 6:30 p.m. Friday with a 2 p.m. Saturday matchup and a 1 p.m. Sunday series finale on deck.
"It's a big weekend for us with McNeese coming in," said first-year head coach
Bobby Barbier, a former Academic All-American first baseman for the Demons. "They're a tremendous team, and they've done it with a lot of the same guys (from the 2016 season). They're a good model of how a team can get better from year to year with a couple of new pieces. They've had a great year so far.
"It's a really tough challenge but also an opportunity. We're coming off two pretty good games and have an opportunity to play well Friday night."
Since being swept in three games in Lake Charles in 2013, the Demons have won each of the past three regular-season series against the Cowboys in 2-1 fashion. Included in that stretch was a series win two seasons ago during the NSU Baseball Reunion Weekend.
The Demons will honor the 1957 and 1967 Gulf States Conference championship teams as well as the 1997 Southland Conference champions during the reunion and will do so against the SLC-leading Cowboys.
McNeese enters the series on a six-game conference win streak while Northwestern State has won its past two games, including a 16-1 victory against Prairie View A&M on Tuesday when the Demons set a season high in runs.
"I wish they were all like that, but that doesn't work out that way in baseball," Barbier said. "We've played a bunch of tight games, and we haven't always come out on the right end of those. Hopefully, we'll learn from those. Winning that tight one at Southeastern on Saturday hopefully gets us going over the edge in believing we can win those close games."
The Demons will send sophomore right-hander
Nathan Jones (3-5, 6.30) to the mound in Friday night's series opener, marking Jones' 10
th series-opening start of the season. He will oppose McNeese left-hander Austin Sanders (4-2, 2.72).
When Barbier looks at the opening pitching matchup of the series, he said he sees some similarities.
"Their Friday night guy pitched during the mid-week last year," he said. "Ours was in the bullpen last year. They show you in our league, and college baseball in general, that development is important. (The McNeese staff) are friends of mine, and they've done a good job developing those players to be the team they are this year. You get some confidence, win some games and crazy things happen. We'll have to come in and compete well Friday."
Live streaming audio of the first two games of the series will be available on
www.NSUDemons.com. Sunday's game will be heard on the Demon Sports Network, which is flagshipped by 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS: In addition to Saturday's recognition of the NSU Baseball alumni in attendance, the middle game of the series is NSU's annual "Fork Cancer" game. The Demons will wear specially imprinted jerseys, which will be auctioned off after the game with proceeds benefiting the American Cancer Society. Sunday's game has been designated as a "Strike Out Autism" game. The Demons will wear special bracelets designed to bring awareness to autism.
Series probables:
Friday: McNeese LHP Austin Sanders (4-2, 2.72) at Northwestern State RHP
Nathan Jones (3-5, 6.30
Saturday: McNeese RHP Rhett Deaton (6-0, 2.56) at Northwestern State RHP
Evan Tidwell (1-5, 6.39)
Sunday: McNeese RHP Aidan Anderson (3-2, 6.99) at Northwestern State RHP
Cullen McDonald (0-1, 5.02)
