THIBODAUX – In each of the Northwestern State baseball team's previous three games entering Friday's game, one big inning cost the Demons.
 
That streak hit four in Northwestern State's Southland Conference opener as homestanding Nicholls struck for four fifth-inning runs and held on for a 5-4 victory at Ray E. Didier Field.
 
"They put together an inning where they got a couple of hits, and we didn't pick it up," second-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "We weren't clean like we have been most of the season. On a Friday night, in a good ballgame, those things come back and bite you."
 
The Demons (7-7, 0-1) dropped their fourth straight game. In each of those games, Northwestern State has allowed at least three runs in an inning.
 
Instead of the sixth inning, as happened twice at No. 9 Texas A&M earlier this week, the fifth was the decisive inning that hurt the Demons.
 
Northwestern State starter Nathan Jones (1-1) had allowed one unearned run through four innings before Lee Clark battled Jones for 11 pitches before drawing a leadoff walk.
 
After a sacrifice bunt moved Clark to second, Brady Bell doubled inside the third-base line to drive in Clark and snap the tie. Two batters later, Joey Morales tripled home two runs and scored on an overthrow to put the Colonels (4-10, 0-1) up 5-1.
 
That proved to be just enough for Nicholls starter Alex Ernestine (1-2), who allowed just two runs in eight innings, keeping the Demons off balance when it mattered most.
 
Ernestine scattered six hits – four of them doubles – in eight innings, largely keeping the Demons from stringing hits together.
 
Back-to-back sixth-inning doubles from Tyler Smith and Austin Stegall, which produced a run, marked just the second time the Demons got multiple hits in an inning against Ernestine.
 
Once Ernestine exited the game, the Demons went to work against Nicholls reliever Parker White as Stegall led off with a hustle double to center field. After Ricca walked and Kelsey Richard advanced the runners with a groundout, Stegall scored on a wild pitch and Lenni Kunert laced an RBI double inside the first-base line to pull the Demons within one.
 
After a Kwan Adkins walk, Jacob Bedevian, the third Nicholls pitcher of the ninth inning, got a game-ending double play to seal Nicholls' third straight win.
 
"We fought," Barbier said. "It's like I told them, I never questioned their competitiveness at all or the fight they have in them. They just played better than we did. We put some decent swings on balls. That happens in our game sometimes. Nothing about tonight worried me. We just have to get a good night's rest and come back and compete tomorrow."
 
Stegall (2-for-4, two doubles, RBI) and Ricca (2-for-3) were the lone Demons with multiple hits while Bell went 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI out of the ninth spot in the Colonels order.
 
The series continues Saturday at 6 p.m. Left-hander Ridge Heisler (2-0, 1.40) will start for the Demons against Nicholls right-hander Cayden Hatcher (0-0, 3.14).
 
Nicholls 5, Northwestern State 2
NWST   100 001 002 – 4 8 3
NICH     001 040 00x – 5 7 1
W – Alex Ernestine (1-2). L – Nathan Jones (1-1). S – Jacob Bedevian (1). 2B – NWST, J.P. Lagreco, Tyler Smith, Austin Stegall 2, Kelsey Richard, Lenni Kunert. NICH, Gage Teer, Brady Bell 2. 3B – NICH, Joey Morales. Highlights: NWST, Stegall 2-4, 2 2Bs, RBI; Caleb Ricca 2-3. NICH, Bell 3-3, 2 2Bs, RBI; Morales 3B, 2 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 7-7, 0-1; Nicholls 4-10, 1-0.