ABILENE, Texas – After suffering its first shutout Friday night, Northwestern State baseball coach Bobby Barbier did not panic regarding his team's offense.

In turn, the Demons offense made its head coach look prophetic.

Sparked by a seven-run first inning, Northwestern State connected on five home runs – including a pair of grand slams – as it evened its Southland Conference-opening series with a 24-11 victory at Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon.

"This game favors the prepared," Barbier said. "The game favors those who stick to it and don't panic. That's what our hitters did. It's easy to come out tight after getting shut out. We had a few new guys in there who swung the bat well. It was good to see them respond."

The Demons (7-5, 1-1) started quickly, as Sam Taylor led off the game with a single and Caleb Ricca followed with a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out.

Unlike Friday night's loss in which they left the bases loaded without scoring in the first inning, the Demons capitalized on a bout of wildness by ACU starter Derek Scott (0-1).

Tyler Smith put Northwestern State up 1-0 with an RBI groundout before the Demons put up six two-out runs on a Jeffrey Elkins double, a Hayden Brown bases-loaded walk and Larson Fontenot's grand slam.

Fontenot's first home run of the year was the first of five Demons homers, the first time Northwestern State has hit at least five home runs in a game since April 25, 2018, against Mississippi Valley State.

"It was a fastball down the pipe," Fontenot said. "(Hitting coach Taylor Dugas) said to go up there with a plan and have bat speed, and just attack it. My plan was to get a fastball away or middle in, and that's what I saw. I put a good swing on it."

With the wind blowing out, both teams produced at a much better rate than Friday's pitchers' duel.

Down 9-0 after Tyler Smith's two-run home run in the top of the second, Abilene Christian (8-7, 1-1) responded with a six-run frame against Demons starter Jerry Maddox.

Pressed to respond again, the Demons did, answering with a six-run third inning, highlighted by a two-run J.P. Lagreco triple and continued control struggles from Abilene Christian pitchers.

While the Demons piled up a season-high 20 hits, Northwestern State also drew 10 walks and four hit by pitches. Those free bases added up against the Wildcats, who continued to pressure Maddox, driving him out in the third inning.

Tyler Pigott (2-1) entered and, after allowing a two-run Luis Trevino single, allowed only one run in 3 1-3 innings to notch his second victory of the week. Pigott earned the win Tuesday in Northwestern State's 8-4 win at Louisiana Tech.

"He settled the game down for us," Barbier said. "He's a little different look than Jerry. We needed someone to come in and pound the strike zone. They still did a good job getting their hits, but he limited the free passes."

Mark Geisel matched Pigott by holding the Demons scoreless in the fifth and sixth before Taylor put the finishing touches on the blowout.

Taylor connected on his first home run of the year, a one-out grand slam, in the seventh inning, giving the Demons their second grand slam of the game after not having one in the 2018 season.

"The big thing with our approach was we attacked more pitches today," Taylor said. "Coach Dugas pulled us aside before the game and wanted to see aggressive swings throughout the lineup today. We came out here and said we could live with the results as long as we're taking good aggressive swings."

The grand slam was Taylor's first home run of the season after hitting two in the Corvallis Regional a season ago. It came three innings after his double-play partner Ricca hit his first of the year.

"I got in a hitter's count and wanted to do damage on the pitch," Taylor said. "Ricca hit one earlier in the game and was chirping at me, so I wanted to put my best swing on it."

Marshall Skinner's first career home run – a two-run blast in the eighth inning – completed NSU's five-homer game after Northwestern State entered the game with two home runs in its first 11 games of the year.

Taylor, Ricca, Elkins and Brown all had three hits for Northwestern State while Smith (5), Taylor (4) and Fontenot (4) all knocked in at least four runs.

The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. Nathan Jones (1-0, 1.00) takes the mound for Northwestern State against Abilene Christian's Jonathan Nicholson (1-1, 4.02).

Northwestern State 24, Abilene Christian 11
NSU       726 200 430 – 24 20 1
ACU       062 100 101 – 11 16 0
W – Tyler Pigott (2-1). L – Derek Scott (0-1). 2B – NSU, Caleb Ricca, J.P. Lagreco, Jeffrey Elkins 2, Marshall Skinner, Hayden Brown. ACU, Robert Salazar, Colton Eager. 3B – NSU, Lagreco. HR – NSU, Sam Taylor (1); Caleb Ricca (1); Tyler Smith (2); Marshall Skinner (1); Larson Fontenot (1). ACU, Koby Claborn (2); Riley Donahue (1). Highlights: NSU, Taylor 3-4, HR, 4 RBIs; Ricca 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs; Smith 2-5, HR, 5 RBIs; Lagreco 2-6, 2B, 3B, 2 RBIs; Elkins 3-6, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs; Skinner 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Brown 3-5, 2B, 2 RBIs; Fontenot HR, 4 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 7-5, 1-1; Abilene Christian 8-7, 1-1.