LAFAYETTE – In the time that has passed between the Northwestern State baseball team's most recent trip to UL Lafayette and its Tuesday trek there, much has changed.
 
The Demons make their first trip to M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park since April 5, 2016, when they face the Ragin' Cajuns at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night in a matchup of teams that have won three of their past four games. It will be NSU's first visit to Moore Field since extensive renovations began after the 2016 season.
 
The game will air on Cox Sports Television with Lyn Rollins (play-by-play), Ronnie Rantz (analyst) and Carley McCord (field) handling the call of the game. ESPN+ will air the game outside the CST viewing area.
 
Streaming audio of the game also will be available on www.NSUDemons.com/watch or through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free through Google Play or the Apple Store.
 
"We haven't been there in a little while," third-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "I hear they have a beautiful new ballpark. It will be a good time to get some of our guys who are from down there to see it. We get down there and their families have a little shorter time to travel."
 
Both the Demons (10-7) and Cajuns (9-11) grabbed weekend series wins – Northwestern State taking two of three from New Orleans while the Cajuns snagged a pair of road wins at Little Rock.
 
Northwestern State notched its third win in its past four games Sunday, capturing the rubber game of the series against the Privateers with arguably its most complete performance in its first six Southland Conference games.
 
"We played really well,"Barbier said. "Sam (Taylor) was hurt, so we had some other guys in there, and they had really good at-bats and played clean defense. Nathan Jones gave it to us, too. When you're scuffling, even on offense, a starting pitcher can win the game for you. That's what Nathan did. We score some run for him, put up 11 hits. Hopefully, we can build on those good at-bats, continue to use the entire field and continue to be successful."
 
The Demons will turn to right-hander Cullen McDonald (2-0, 0.87) for his fourth straight mid-week start.
 
McDonald has flourished in the role, tossing three consecutive quality starts, including 7 2-3 innings of one-run ball against No. 11/13 LSU on March 12 to help the Demons pick up their first win against the Tigers in eight years.
 
While McDonald has solidified the mid-week spot in the Demons' rotation, freshman outfielder Jeffrey Elkins has done the same thing for the NSU lineup in the past four games.
 
Elkins, a Lafayette native who heads home coming off back-to-back three-hit games, batted .467 with three doubles and five RBIs this past week. Elkins delivered the game-winning hit against LSU, lining a two-run double to left field in a three-run NSU sixth inning.
 
"I just love the way he goes about his business," Barbier said. "You can't tell if he's had no hits or four hits. He works at his craft. The other day, he was tossing to one of the guys who is redshirting. He was the last one out of there.
 
"You can tell he's about the team. It's gratifying to see a guy like that get rewarded. Hopefully, he can keep it going."