NATCHITOCHES – It will not take long for the Northwestern State baseball team to see how it stacks up with some of the best teams in college baseball.
 
The defending Southland Conference Tournament champions released their 2019 schedule Tuesday, one that begins with four consecutive games against NCAA Regional teams.
 
The highlight of that stretch is the Feb. 20 home opener against LSU, who eliminated the Demons from the NCAA Corvallis Regional.
 
"The ball moves a little faster when you play good teams," said head coach Bobby Barbier, who opens his third season at the helm of his alma mater on Feb. 15 when the Demons open a three-game set at Houston.
 
"The faster the ball moves, the more exposed your flaws become. I look forward to watching this team compete against championship-caliber teams. The first four games will be big, but the next 50 are as important. I'm looking forward to how much better we are in May than during the first four."
 
The Demons host the Tigers after opening the season with a three-game series at Houston, who advanced to the championship round of the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional this past season.
 
The matchup with the Tigers is the first in Natchitoches since the 2014 season and starts a season-long eight-game homestand that includes games against state rivals Southern (Feb. 22-24) and ULM (Feb. 26) before concluding with a three-game set against former Demon assistant coach Chris Curry's Little Rock Trojans (March 1-3).
 
The eight-game homestand is part of a 30-game home slate for Barbier's Demons, who posted a 19-9 mark at home in 2018. Those home games will take place at a renovated Brown-Stroud Field, which will see the addition of suites and new chairback seating in the grandstand.
 
"With the renovations, we wanted to play more games at home this year," Barbier said. "Our fans are so good to us, so it is nice to be able to play a lot of games in front of them."
 
While the Demons will play the majority of their 2019 season at home, there are road tests starting with the season-opening series at Houston.
 
In addition to the Cougars, Northwestern State will face mid-week road challenges against state rivals Louisiana Tech (March 5), UL Lafayette (March 19) and ULM (April 9, May 14).
 
There also is a two-game trip to College World Series runner-up Arkansas, coached by former Northwestern State skipper Dave Van Horn, on April 23-24.
 
In addition to traveling to Ruston and Monroe, the Demons will host ULM in NSU's first home mid-week game of the year on Feb. 26 and closes out its home mid-week slate by hosting Louisiana Tech on April 30.
 
Northwestern State will face Louisiana teams in a total of 24 games, including a home weekend series against Grambling (May 3-5).
 
"These kids grow up with guys that play on those teams," Barbier said of NSU's in-state opponents. "It is good to let them have a chance to compete against familiar faces. It is also good for the fans to be able to travel down the road to see us play in a different environment."
 
Northwestern State opens and closes Southland Conference play on the road, starting the 30-game conference slate at Abilene Christian (March 8-10) and closing it at defending conference regular-season champion Sam Houston State (May 16-18).
 
The Demons also have road SLC series at Houston Baptist (March 29-31), Southeastern Louisiana (April 12-14) and Stephen F. Austin (April 26-28).
 
Northwestern State's five home conference series are against New Orleans (March 15-17), Lamar (March 22-24), Nicholls (April 5-7), McNeese (April 18-20) and Incarnate Word (May 10-12).
 
Lamar and Sam Houston State return to NSU's conference schedule after a two-year absence while the Demons will face six of the seven other SLC Tournament teams from a season ago.
 
"They both are tremendous opponents, and it's good to get them back on the schedule," Barbier said. "We play in a really competitive league, and those two help make it that way."