HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Even with two regular-season games remaining, the Northwestern State baseball team continues to learn lessons.
The one the Demons experienced Thursday night was the importance of starting fast on the road.
Northwestern State missed a chance to put up a multi-run first inning then watched Southland Conference-leading Sam Houston State score in in six of its eight innings in an 11-5 win at Don Sanders Stadium.
"Both guys they threw were really good – two of the best guys we've faced all year," third-year coach
Bobby Barbier said. "We did a good job offensively. We've got to be ready to play early. The good teams, they don't just score one when you mess it up. They score two, three, four, when you mess it up. We made a couple of mistakes early. Hopefully, we'll come out tomorrow and play hard. We've got a long day tomorrow."
The Demons (29-22, 14-14) took a 1-0 lead off Sam Houston State ace Hayden Wesneski (8-3) in the first inning as
Jeffrey Elkins singled home
Sam Taylor, who led off with a first-pitch single and moved to second on a groundout.
After
Tyler Smith singled to put runners on the corners, Wesneski got a strikeout and a pop out to limit the damage. Given a similar chance in the bottom of the first, the Bearkats (30-22, 19-9) pounced on a couple of Demons mistakes and put up a four-run inning.
Twice in the inning, the Demons saw pop-fly doubles fall between multiple outfielders in shallow center field, helping set up a tough inning for starter
Cullen McDonald (5-2). McDonald lasted four innings, giving up a season-high nine runs and a career-high 13 hits.
The Bearkats continued their offensive push in the second inning, scoring three times after McDonald retired the first two batters of the inning.
Single runs in the third and fourth innings expanded the lead to 9-1 before the Demons responded with two-run innings in the fifth and sixth.
Caleb Ricca's two-run double to the right-center field gap drove Wesneski from the game after 5 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits.
While the Demons succeeded against the Bearkats' ace, they did not against reliever Nick Mikolajchak, who got a strikeout to quell NSU's sixth-inning uprising and fanned seven in 3 1-3 innings of one-hit relief.
The only Demon to notch a hit against Mikolajchak was Taylor, whose ninth-inning single gave him a career-high five hits. Elkins and Smith each went 2-for-5 with Elkins driving in two runs as part of NSU's 12- hit attack.
"Big night for him," Barbier said. "A very special night for him. Hopefully, he can get five more tomorrow."
Hunter Hearn (4-for-5) hit for the cycle for the Bearkats, who tallied 17 hits, including 10 for extra bases.
The teams conclude the series and the regular season with a Friday doubleheader. Seniors
Ridge Heisler (3-5, 3.56) and
Nathan Jones (7-3, 2.76) are expected to start for the Demons against left-handers Dominic Robinson and Seth Ballew of Sam Houston State.
Sam Houston State 11, Northwestern State 5
NSU 100 022 000 – 5 12 2
SHSU 431 101 10x – 11 17 0
W – Hayden Wesneski (8-3). L –
Cullen McDonald (5-2). S – Nick Mikolajchak (7). 2B – NSU,
Caleb Ricca,
Jeffrey Elkins,
Austin Stegall. SHSU, Jordan Cannon 2, Colton Cowser 2, Hunter Hearn, Jack Rogers, Garrett Johnson. 3B – SHSU, Hunter Hearn. HR – SHSU, Clayton Harp (6); Hunter Hearn (11). Highlights: NSU,
Sam Taylor 5-5; Elkins 2-5, 2B, 2 RBIs;
Tyler Smith 2-5, RBI. SHSU, Cannon 2-5, 2 2Bs; Cowser 3-5, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs; Harp 2-4, HR, 3 RBIs; Hearn 4-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBIs; Johnson 2-4, 2B, RBI.
Records: Northwestern State 29-22, 14-14; Sam Houston State 30-22, 19-9.
