NATCHITOCHES – What originally was scheduled as Northwestern State's baseball home opener finally arrives Tuesday night at 6:02 p.m. when nationally ranked LSU visits Brown-Stroud Field for the first time since 2014.
 
The extra three weeks may have whetted fans' appetites even more than normal, and that time period did the same, in a sense, for the Demons head coach.
 
"It's good to play a good team," third-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "It gets people from this part of the world to come out and see us. They'll come to see them to see us, but it gets them to the yard. It will be a really, really good night for Demon baseball.
 
"All the circumstances are great, but we can't downplay that we have to play better. Whether it's LSU or whoever, we have to do a better job of competing for the full nine innings or competing every game of the series. It will be a grand night, but it's about our team and how we compete through nine innings."
 
The Demons (7-6) and Tigers (11-4) will meet for the third time since May 2018 when the teams squared off in the final mid-week game of the season before meeting 19 days later in an elimination game at the NCAA Corvallis Regional.
 
Tuesday's game will stream live on ESPN+ and can be heard on 100.7 FM KZBL and the Demon Sports Network. Patrick Netherton will handle the play-by-play call of the game with an audio stream also available on www.NSUDemons.com/watchor on the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app. The app can be downloaded free through either Google Play or the Apple Store.
 
Northwestern State (7-6) dropped two of three games this past weekend at Abilene Christian. 
 
The Demons will turn to senior right-hander Cullen McDonald (1-0, 0.69) against the No. 11/13 Tigers, who counter with freshman right-hander Landon Marceaux (1-1, 7.79). 
 
McDonald has sparkled in his first two starts of the season, allowing one earned run in 13 innings against UL Monroe and Louisiana Tech.
 
"Cullen has always done what we've asked him," Barbier said. "He's improved every single year. He pounds the zone with a couple of pitches. He keeps offenses off balance. Cullen makes you swing the bat. He has seven strikeouts and no walks. He always has been better over the course of his career about getting to two strikes and being able to put you away."
 
While McDonald has solidified Northwestern State's mid-week starting spot, junior shortstop Caleb Ricca has been the Demons' offensive spark.
 
After a 5-for-10 weekend that included home runs in each of the final two games at Abilene Christian, Ricca is hitting .392 and ranks in the top three in the Southland Conference in doubles (7, second), hits per game (1.54, third), slugging percentage (.647, third), stolen bases (7, third) and batting average (third). His 0.54 doubles per game lead the conference.
 
"Caleb's always been talented," Barbier said. "He has some of the best bat speed on the team. He's our fastest runner. He plays a really good shortstop. He's been able to keep himself in good counts and use the whole field. That's why he's hitting (.392) instead of .260 like he has. He's as dynamic a player as there is in this league. If he stays locked in and uses the whole field, there's no limit to the type of player he can be."
 
Tuesday's game marks the first of back-to-back games for the Demons against members of the LSU system.
 
Northwestern State will host LSU-Alexandria at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a game that was moved back a day because of the initial rainout of the Feb. 20 LSU-Northwestern State game.
 
"(LSUA head coach) Steven Adams and I played here together," Barbier said. "We're going to enjoy hosting them. Hopefully, we can make it a yearly thing. They're an hour down the road. It makes sense to play those guys every year. We can't wait to get Skunk (Adams) back up to Natchitoches."