Demon Baseball | 4/26/2018 3:00:00 PM

NATCHITOCHES -- Coming off a two-game offensive surge that tied several school records, the Northwestern State baseball team's mind-set has not changed.
 
The Demons scored 55 runs in a two-game, mid-week sweep of Mississippi Valley State, tying three school records in Wednesday's 34-0 victory, but Friday's Southland Conference series opener against Houston Baptist likely will tell NSU much more about the growth it has made.
 
In addition to Friday's series opener, he Demons (23-18, 9-9) and Huskies (20-21, 12-6) will play Saturday at 2 p.m. and at 1 p.m. Sunday at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
This weekend's series marks the annual #ForkCancer game, which aims to bring awareness to cancer research. The Demons will wear special #ForkCancer jerseys, which will be auctioned off following the game. To bid on the jerseys, go to www.NSUDemons.com/auctions.
 
"It will be good to be at home against a good opponent," second-year coach Bobby Barbier said. "It will be good to see how far we've come over the first 10 weeks of the season."
 
Northwestern State enters the weekend in seventh place in the Southland Conference standings with four weeks remaining in the regular season. The top eight teams advance to the Southland Conference Tournament next month in Sugar Land, Texas.
 
Of the four remaining conference series, Northwestern State will face two teams (Abilene Christian, New Orleans) behind them in the current standings and two ahead of them (Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word).
 
This weekend marks Houston Baptist's first trip to Natchitoches as a Southland Conference member. HBU has taken three of the first four meetings from the Demons since joining the conference, including a series win this past season in Houston.
 
"They've done a really good job," Barbier said. "Obviously, they're in a great location, and they get quite a few kids from the West Coast. I was really impressed when we played them last year, and they're in the top three or four in the conference this year. It's going to be a really tough series."
 
Northwestern State brings the conference's top team ERA (3.29) into the matchup while the Huskies are the league's top power unit, hammering a league-leading 43 home runs.
 
Individually, the series will feature four of the top seven pitchers in ERA in the league – Houston Baptist's Matthew McCullough (3^rd, 2.34) and a trio of Demons, Ridge Hiesler (4^th, 2.55), Jerry Maddox (6^th, 2.64) and Danny Hlad (7^th, 2.70).
 
In terms of conference ERA, McCullough ranks second (1.63) while Heisler (1.88) and Hlad (1.93) are third and fourth, respectively. Maddox (2.37) checks in at ninth in league games.
 
In addition to McCullough, a graduate student, Barbier cited coaching staff stability as a key reason for the Huskies' rise.
 
Head coach Jared Moon is in his 14^th season while pitching coach Xavier Hernandez and fellow assistant Russell Stockton are in their eighth seasons on Moon's staff.
 
"That's hard to do in today's age of college sports," Barbier said. "Think about a pitcher having multiple coaches over the course of his career. In our game, there are so many guys who have different ways of teaching things.
 
"Our coaches are much more mechanical than other sports, so there are many different ways to go about it. As a head coach, you have to have a plan that remains consistent through whoever comes in. Coach (Nick) Saban at Alabama does a good job of that. When his coordinators come in, they know what's expected of them and how he wants to play. They have to fit that mold. That's huge in a staff."
 
Series probables:
Friday: Houston Baptist RHP Zach Carter (3-3, 4.06) at Northwestern State LHP Ridge Heisler (4-2, 2.55)
Saturday: Houston Baptist LHP Matthew McCullough (6-1, 2.34) at Northwestern State RHP Jerry Maddox (4-3, 2.64)
Sunday: Houston Baptist RHP Brady Batten (2-4, 3.30) at Northwestern State RHP Nathan Jones (2-4, 3.36)