Demon Baseball | 3/22/2018 1:28:00 PM

NATCHITOCHES – Both Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State were picked to finish in the lower half of the Southland Conference race when the league released its preseason polls.
 
As the teams meet in Friday's 6:30 p.m. Southland series opener at Brown-Stroud Field, they do so feeling much better about the 2018 season than the pundits predicted.
 
The series also includes a 2 p.m. Saturday matchup and a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee, which marks the return of the "Family Four Pack" ticket offer. For $39, fans will receive four general admission tickets, four hot dogs or nachos and four drinks for one all-inclusive price.
 
All three games of the weekend series will air on 100.7 FM KZBL and through www.NSUDemons.com.
 
The Demons (11-9, 2-1) opened conference play two weeks ago with a series win at Nicholls while the Islanders (14-8, 0-3) scored non-conference wins against Mississippi State and Oklahoma before falling to Sam Houston State in their first weekend of conference play.
 
"They've played well up until this past weekend when Sam Houston got them," second-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "They do it the right way. I'm happy for those guys."
 
Two weekends ago, Northwestern State opened conference play by taking two of three games at Nicholls, collecting their second straight road SLC series win dating to the 2017 season.
 
Now the Demons host the first of five conference series this season at Brown-Stroud Field, where Northwestern State has won five of its first eight games and both of its weekend series this season.
 
Brown-Stroud Field has provided the Demons with quite a home-field advantage throughout the years, especially when it comes to home-opening Southland series.
 
Since 1990, the Demons are 18-9-1 in their first home SLC series. In those 28 series, the Demons have posted a cumulative 50-32 record.
 
Northwestern State, which has won four of its past six games, will face a balanced Islanders squad that features one of the top strikeout pitchers in the league in right-hander Aaron Hernandez, who will start Saturday's game.
 
Hernandez has struck out 38 batters in 30 2-3 innings, and his total ranks third in the conference.
 
The Demons have cut down on their strikeouts as a team in the past three games and have seen positive results in that time, collecting 33 hits in that span.
 
"It will be a tough task for us, him or anyone else who's throwing," Barbier said. "When you're playing a team that's playing well, guys tend to step up their game. We saw from the weekend (at Nebraska) what happens when you limit strikeouts. We had three strikeouts on Saturday and 15 hits.
 
"It's numbers, right? If you put the ball in play more, you have chances to get more hits. Teams that normally do that tend to have better offensive numbers. It's going to be a tough task, but it's about us – how we compete, regardless of whoever we play. It's about how we compete in the game, in the moment."
 
Series probables:
Friday: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Dustin Lacaze (1-1, 3.07) at Northwestern State RHP Nathan Jones (1-1, 3.77)
Saturday: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Aaron Hernandez (1-3, 3.82) at Northwestern State LHP Ridge Heisler (3-1, 2.93)
Sunday: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Jackson Owens (2-1, 5.70) at Northwestern State RHP Robert Burke (0-2, 4.71)