NATCHITOCHES – For five innings Friday night, the Northwestern State baseball team struggled to put the ball in play against Penn reliever Mitchell Holcomb.
 
Once Holcomb exited the game, the Demons pounced.
 
Northwestern State used a pair of walks, a fielder's choice and a throwing error to concoct a 12^th-inning rally and grab a series-opening 2-1 win against the Quakers at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
"After the game, we talked about how the guys who had a tough night at the plate were the ones making really good plays on defense," second-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "They did a really good job of not taking their at-bats with them into the field. That's a good team we beat over there. We're fortunate to come away with the win."
 
Holcomb struck out nine Northwestern State hitters in five innings of relief work to keep the game tied at 1 before the Demons (3-2) rallied with patience against Cole Sichley (0-1) and John Alan Kendrick in the 12^th.
 
Kelsey Richard drew a four-pitch walk and Chaney Dodge followed with a walk on a full count off Sichley, who threw just two strikes in his 10 pitches. The Quakers (0-1) went to Kendrick to face Sam Taylor, who laid down a bunt that took Kendrick toward third base.
 
Kendrick tried to throw out Richard at third base, but his throw was wide, allowing Richard to score the winning run and make a winner out of Jose Vasquez, who earned his first NSU win with 4 1-3 scoreless innings of relief. The error gave Northwestern State its first walk-off win since Caleb Ricca's grand slam lifted the Demons to a 10-7 win against Incarnate Word on May 6, 2017.
 
Barbier summoned Vasquez with two outs in the eighth after starter Nathan Jones turned in a sparkling second start of the season. Jones worked 7 2-3 innings, scattering four hits while striking out six.

Vasquez followed with hitless relief and three strikeouts, adding a win to the save he picked up in the season opener one week ago.
 
"I thought Nathan Jones was tremendous," Barbier said. "Tonight you saw two pitchers really execute their pitches, and they showed how tough it was to hit when you execute your pitches. Nathan was great. Jose was great. Their two guys (starter Gabe Kleiman and Holcomb) were really good."
 
Jones and Kleiman turned in a Friday night duel worthy of any conference series.
 
Both pitchers allowed runs on ground outs and turned in quality starts. Kleiman, making his first start, lasted six innings, scattering four hits while striking out six before turning the ball over to Holcomb.
 
From there, Holcomb and Vasquez dueled before the Demons finally broke through against Penn's second and third relievers.
 
Vasquez ran into some trouble in the ninth, issuing a leadoff walk and an intentional walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Two ground balls later, the game remained tied and Vasquez proceeded to retire eight of the final nine batters he faced.
 
After hitting Andrew Murnane with a pitch to start the 11^th, Vasquez struck out Chris Adams and got a double play to end the inning. The twin killing was the ninth of the early season for Northwestern State, which entered the game two behind Oregon State for the national lead.
 
"Obviously we never want a game to go 12 innings, especially late at night when we have a quick turnaround," said Vasquez, who threw 49 pitches. "I just wanted to give us a chance to hit, like we did there, keep putting pressure on their defense. Our infield defense has been phenomenal in the first two series. It's a luxury for us."
 
Offensively, the Demons had their share of opportunities, but again struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. Northwestern State struck out 13 times and left seven runners on base, four of which were left in scoring position.
 
David Fry (2-for-4) and Kwan Adkins (2-for-3) had four of Northwestern State's six hits while Adams had two of Penn's four.
 
Both of Fry's hits were doubles, giving him 51 for his career and moving him into sole possession of second place in school history. It was a busy night for Fry's climb up the Demons' career charts as he moved into sixth place in total bases (292, surpassing Michael Palermo), 10^th in at-bats (625, surpassing Chris Marshall) and 10^th in career hits (183).
 
His career hit total snapped a 10^th-place tie with Barbier, which led to some good-natured repartee between the two after the game.
 
The series concludes with a 12 p.m. doubleheader Saturday. Northwestern State will send left-hander Ridge Heisler (1-0, 0.00) and right-hander Robert Burke (0-1, 11.57) to the mound against Penn right-hander Christian Scafidi (0-1, 6.92 in 2017) and left-hander Jack Hartman (1-0, 8.22 in 2017).
 
Both games of the doubleheader can be heard and seen on www.NSUDemons.com/watch.
 
Northwestern State 2, Penn 1 (12 innings)
Penn     000 100 000 000 – 1 4 1
NSU       010 000 000 001 – 2 6 0
W – Jose Vasquez (1-0). L – Cole Sichley (0-1). 2B – Penn, Andrew Murnane, Chris Adams. NSU, David Fry 2. Highlights: Penn, Adams 2-3, 2B. NSU, Fry 2-4, 2 2Bs; Kwan Adkins 2-3.
Records: Penn 0-1; Northwestern State 3-2.