NATCHITOCHES – Four games in as many days normally happens once a year for college baseball teams and usually it is because the chance is earned.
 
For the Northwestern State baseball team, they will get to experience it about a month earlier than most.
 
The Demons (20-14, 10-8 Southland Conference) start a four-games-in-as-many-days homestand Wednesday with a 6 p.m. matchup against LSU-Alexandria at Brown-Stroud Field. A three-game Southland Conference series against McNeese follows from Thursday-Sunday.
 
"Baseball is meant to be played in a concentrated area," third-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "They all say they want to play pro baseball. In pro baseball, you play every day. Obvioulsy, we have school work to do, but we are out of school Friday and don't have to be back until noon Monday, so we'll have time to do school work as well, but it will be nice to play some games."
 
The first of the four games comes against an LSU-Alexandria team that was 27-15 entering Tuesday's doubleheader at the University of Mobile.
 
Wednesday's game comes after the initially scheduled game was moved after the Demons' game against LSU was shifted to March 12 because it was rained out. Rain then forced the Demons and Generals to postpone the rescheduled March 13 contest until Wednesday.
 
LSUA is coached by former Demon Steven Adams, who has a longstanding friendship with Barbier.
 
"He was a senior when I was a freshman and took me under his wing," Barbier said. "It's great to play those guys, and we hope to start playing them once a year. It's good for the community and for central Louisiana. We have a lot of connections with (LSUA Director of Athletics) Adam Jonson being over there. It will be a good, tough game for us before entering our conference series against McNeese."
 
While the Demons and Generals have met only once, Northwestern State's Easter weekend series comes against a much more familiar foe.
 
Northwestern State and McNeese (19-17, 6-9 Southland Conference) meet as the Demons begin their seventh of 10 conference series.
 
With 12 conference games remaining, Northwestern State sits in a tie for fifth place, four games behind league-leading Sam Houston State. McNeese, which faced Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night, enters the weekend series in a tie for ninth place, 1.5 games behind Nicholls for the No. 8 spot in the conference.
 
The top eight teams in the league qualify for the Southland Conference Tournament, which will be held May 22-25 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
 
"They all matter," Barbier said. "Take the Sunday game at Southeastern. We're not feeling good – we didn't play well the last two days. That game matters. Every one of them does."
 
While the Demons salvaged one game of the three-game series at Southeastern Louisiana, the Cowboys took two of three from New Orleans in Lake Charles, clinching the series with a 16-4 run-rule victory Sunday.
 
McNeese ranks sixth in the conference in batting average (.275) and is in a three-way tie for second in home runs (31).
 
"They had a good weekend against UNO, scored a bunch of runs," Barbier said. "They have a very potent offense. I'm not sure the numbers show it yet, but they have a bunch of good hitters."
 
The McNeese series features a pair of night games (6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday) before a 2 p.m. Saturday series finale. Saturday's game will be Super 1 Kids Day. Until game day, children's tickets are discounted to $2 and parents will be able to buy $7 tickets. On the day of the game, prices will be $5 and $10 for the same tickets, respectively.
 
Additionally, there will be an Easter Egg hunt on the field immediately following the conclusion of Saturday's game. Admission for the game is free for members of Vic's Kids Club.
 
Streaming audio and video of all four games will be available on www.NSUDemons.com or through the new Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free through either the Apple Store or Google Play.