NATCHITOCHES – The eighth inning again was fruitful for the Northwestern State baseball team Saturday afternoon.
 
This time, it bore enough of a cushion to where the Demons could close out Houston Baptist without going to extra innings.
 
Two-run singles by J.P. Lagreco and Peyton Davis broke open a tie game and lifted Northwestern State to a 7-4 Southland Conference series-clinching win against the visiting Huskies at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
"Their guy (Matthew McCollough) was really good," second-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "He's got a 2.4 ERA. He's been one of the better pitchers in the league for a long time. He didn't miss a spot early, which made it tough on us. It was nice to see us make adjustments as the game went on, especially after having some poor at-bats early."
 
After McCullough (6-2) retired the first 10 Demons he saw, Northwestern State (25-18, 11-9) began to chip away against the left-hander who tossed a complete game against NSU in the first round of the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament.
 
While David Fry and J.P. Lagreco had fourth- and fifth-inning singles, respectively, against McCollough, Davis delivered the big blow against the Huskies ace, driving a solo home run just to the left of the batter's eye in center field to cut HBU's lead in half.
 
"It was a two-strike curveball," said Davis, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. "We weren't swinging the bats very well. I was just trying to get us a baserunner. I was just trying to hit it hard. I was sitting (on the curveball), trying to sit back and hit it the other way, and I just got the barrel out."
 
The Huskies (20-23, 12-8) built a 2-0 lead by manufacturing a first-inning run against Demons right-hander Jerry Maddox (5-3) and Elijah Simon's solo home run in the fifth inning.
 
Just as Davis answered Simon's blast with one of his own, the Huskies answered after some good fortune allowed the Demons to score twice in the sixth inning to take their first lead.
 
Matt Heck led off an eventful seventh inning with a double. One batter later, an out call on Jake Pulcheon's sacrifice bunt was overturned, leaving runners on the corners with nobody out.
 
Maddox buckled down and allowed just one run, keeping the game tied and setting up the offense's second straight day of eighth-inning heroics.
 
"You have to take a deep breath," Maddox said. "The main thing I tried to do was slow the game down. I walked around a little more. I made quality pitches there, trying to be a little more pristine than I had been. The squeeze where we got the out at the plate really set the tone for the inning."
 
Maddox worked a career-long eight innings, scattering six hits and three runs (two earned), turning in his fourth quality start in as many outings since moving into the weekend rotation at the beginning of April.
 
Kwan Adkins set the decisive eighth inning in motion by lining a double to the right-field corner off McCollough. HBU intentionally walked David Fry before McCollough got Tyler Smith to fly out.
 
On the first pitch from McCollough, J.P. Lagreco dumped a two-run single into center field to bring Adkins and Fry home and chase McCollough.
 
Davis then added the insurance runs with a single that Jake Scott could not corral on a dive in left field.
 
"We needed that from Jerry," said Barbier, whose team has won four straight games and is a season-high seven games over .500. "We needed him to go deep into the game after we used Danny (Hlad) and Jose (Vasquez) on Friday. (Tyler Pigott) coming on in the ninth was huge.
 
"Jerry's improved ever since he stepped on campus. He came in as a really good pitcher, but he's improved each time out."
 
The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday. Right-hander Nathan Jones (2-4, 3.36) takes the ball for the Demons against HBU right-hander Brady Batten (2-4, 3.30).
 
Northwestern State 7, Houston Baptist 4
HBU       100 010 101 – 4 6 1
NSU       000 012 04x – 7 9 3
W – Jerry Maddox (5-3). L – Matthew McCullough (6-2). 2B – HBU, Matt Heck. NSU, Kwan Adkins. HR – HBU, Elijah Simon (4). NSU, Peyton Davis (2). Highlights: Simon 2-2, HR, RBI; NSU, J.P. Lagreco 2-4, 2 RBIs; Davis 2-4, HR, 3 RBIs.
Records: Houston Baptist 20-23, 12-11; Northwestern State 25-18, 11-9