NATCHITOCHES – The pitching duel between Eastern Illinois' Will Klein and Northwestern State's Logan Hofmann truly arrived in the fourth inning Friday night at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
Thankfully for the Demons, they produced all the offense they needed in the first three innings.
 
Lenni Kunert's first-inning RBI single and Tyler Smith's third-inning, two-run home run gave Hofmann enough offense and the right-hander settled in after a rocky start to power Northwestern State to a 3-0 win and extend its winning streak to seven games.
 
"He was phenomenal," fourth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said of Hofmann. "He always competes, but he didn't have his best stuff early. That's really the first time since he's stepped on campus where he hasn't had his best stuff. I told him before the season started that I was anxious to see how he reacted when that happened. That's the mark of a real guy when you can fight through it, and he fought through it."
 
Hofmann improved to 3-0 by spinning eight shutout innings, scattering four singles and striking out a career-high 11. A junior from Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada, Hofmann needed 62 pitches to cover the first three innings Friday night before settling into a familiar groove against the Panthers (3-4).
 
Given some extra breathing room after Smith rode a Klein fastball out to left-center field for his 19^th career home run, Hofmann retired 14 straight batters, including four consecutive 1-2-3 innings from the fourth through the seventh innings.
 
Hofmann needed just 50 pitches across the final five innings of his start.
 
"It was getting a feel for stuff early on," Hofmann said. "I knew I wasn't too sharp. I felt good in the bullpen, but when I got out there I was just a little bit off. You have to make adjustments, keep attacking guys and stay true to what you've learned all year."
 
The Demons (8-1) wasted little time getting to the hard-throwing Klein (1-2).
 
Freshman Daunte Stuart led off the game with a double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Lenni Kunert drove him in with a single to center.
 
While Hofmann danced in and out of trouble in the first three innings, the Demons added on against the Eastern Illinois ace in the third.
 
Jeffrey Elkins coaxed a leadoff walk out of Klein, who walked five and struck out nine in six innings.
 
Two batters later, Smith blasted a 1-0 pitch from Klein over the left-center field wall to give the Demons a three-run lead.
 
"We had a good scouting report," said Smith, who finished 2-for-3 and has five hits in his past two games. "(Assistant coach Taylor) Dugas said he was going to throw 75 percent fastballs. We got on him early.
 
"(Stuart and Kunert) got us going early. They had good at-bats. They got good swings on him, and we put it together."
 
Although it took longer than expected, Hofmann settled in. The 14 straight batters he retired marked the third time in as many starts Hofmann has retired at least 11 consecutive hitters.
 
He did it with some help from his defense, including a nice play deep in the hole by shortstop Cam Sibley that took away an infield hit from Grant Emme in the fifth inning.
 
"It was awesome," said Hofmann, who has started two of the Demons' three shutouts this season. "Our defense has been great all year. That's a big play by Sib to get that second out and let me go at that last guy to make it a quick inning."
 
Hofmann worked around a leadoff single in the eighth to retire the final three batters he faced before Kyle Swanson worked a scoreless ninth inning to earn his third save of the season and the seventh of his career, putting him alone in 10^th place in program history.
 
The alumni weekend series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. Left-hander Cal Carver (1-0, 1.50) takes the mound for the Demons against Eastern Illinois right-hander Blake Maletestinic (1-0, 3.97).
 
Northwestern State 3, Eastern Illinois 0
EIU         000 000 000 – 0 4 0
NSU       102 000 00x – 3 6 0
W – Logan Hofmann (3-0). L – Will Klein (1-2). S – Kyle Swanson (3). 2B – NSU, Daunte Stuart. HR – NSU, Tyler Smith (1). Highlights: NSU, Smith 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs.
Records: Eastern Illinois 3-4, Northwestern State 8-1.