NATCHITOCHES – In need of a big hit, the Northwestern State baseball team found a little fortune thanks to senior Austin Stegall.
 
Stegall flared an RBI single to right-center to cap a two-run sixth inning and back a strong start from Jerry Maddox as the Demons rallied for a 5-2 Southland Conference victory against Lamar on Saturday afternoon at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
Stegall fought off an 0-1 pitch from Jason Blanchard (2-3) to deliver the go-ahead run and give the Demons (11-9, 4-4) their first lead of the series, bringing home Jeffrey Elkins to snap a 2-all tie.
 
"I got in there looking for something over the plate, something I could handle," Stegall said. "I didn't want to do too much. He ran one in on me, and thankfully, I stayed inside of it and got it down."
 
Stegall's hit and a two-run double by Elkins in the seventh inning made a winner of Maddox (1-1), who worked a season-long 6 1-3 innings, scattering seven hits and allowing just two runs.
 
After Logan Berlof's leadoff home run in the second inning, Maddox regained his composure and found the form that made him the Southland Conference and the All-Louisiana Newcomer of the Year a season ago.
 
"It was just getting into a rhythm after that," Maddox said. "That very next at-bat, I really filled up the zone and based the rest of the game on that. The defense made plays behind me throughout the game. Getting ahead more really helped me out."
 
Maddox' ability to slow Lamar (9-13, 2-6) was key for a Northwestern State team that was short-handed because of sickness that has spread throughout the Demons' roster.
 
With a short bullpen, Maddox picked the right time to deliver his first quality start of the season.
 
"He was a little shaky in the first," third-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "After the home run, he made some really good pitches that inning. He settled in and kept the game where it was. We needed that, because I thought their guy was really good. He's as good a guy as we've faced all year. We had a chance and broke it open on Jeffrey's hit. It was a good team win and good to fight some adversity and some stuff we've got going on."
 
Blanchard and Maddox each worked 6 1-3 innings and each allowed seven hits. The key for the Demons was delivering the big hit, which escaped them in Friday's 4-3 series-opening loss.
 
Elkins had two of those big hits, part of a 2-for-2, two-walk, three-RBI day for the freshman outfielder.
 
Elkins' first big hit came with two outs in the third when he pulled a single through the left side to tie the game at 1. His second was a two-run double to left-center that gave Jose Vasquez a three-run cushion.
 
Vasquez took over for Maddox after Cole Girouard's one-out single in the seventh and allowed only a two-out single in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
 
Although the Demons did not have a multi-run inning until the sixth, Barbier said he was more pleased with his team's offensive approach against Blanchard.
 
"We got the pitch count up some to where they have to make a decision in the sixth or seventh inning," Barbier said. "That was important. A couple of innings there we really got his pitch count up. He doesn't give you many shots, and we took advantage when we had the shots late in the game."
 
The Demons will try to close out their second straight conference series win Sunday when Nathan Jones (1-1, 1.64) takes the mound against Lamar's Douglas Palmer (0-0, 2.40). First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
Northwestern State 5, Lamar 2
Lamar    010 010 000 – 2 8 0
NSU       001 002 20x – 5 8 0
W – Jerry Maddox (1-1). L – Jason Blanchard (2-3). S – Jose Vasquez (1). 2B – NSU, Caleb Ricca; Jeffrey Elkins. HR – LU, Logan Berlof (1). Highlights: LU, Cole Girouard 2-3; Anthony Quirion 2-4. NSU, Elkins 2-2, 2B, 3 RBIs.
Records: Lamar 9-13, 2-6; Northwestern State 11-9, 4-4