NATCHITOCHES – The big hits that typified the Northwestern State baseball team's seven-game win streak did not materialize Saturday afternoon.
 
As such, the Demons' run of success ended at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
Eastern Illinois right-hander Blake Malatestinic stifled the NSU offense and Matt Mackey's two-run home run gave the Panthers an early lead in a 5-1 win.
 
"Their guy must have been pretty good today," fourth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "We didn't play extremely well. We let it get away from us there in the ninth. If you throw strikes and play defense in the ninth, you keep it a one-run game, and you give yourself a chance to do something special in the end."
 
Northwestern State (8-2) hardly pressured Malatestinic (2-0) in his 7 1-3 innings of work.
 
Down 2-0, the Demons put together their best threat in the fifth inning as Cam Sibley led off with a hustle double and Hilton Brown was hit by a pitch.
 
After Malatestinic walked Daunte Stuart to load the bases, he struck out Jeffrey Elkins to keep the Demons off the board and keep the Panthers on top.
 
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Eastern Illinois struck first when Matt Mackey delivered a two-run home run off Demon starter Cal Carver (1-1) in the fourth inning.
 
Mackey's blast was the lone time Eastern Illinois (4-4) made Carver pay for a mistake.
 
In his first NSU start, Carver scattered four hits, allowing one earned run, while striking out nine in seven innings.
 
"He pitched well," Barbier said. "He had the change-up going today and kept it down in the zone for the most part. He threw the ball well."
 
Outside of Stuart, the Demons could not solve Malatestinic.
 
Stuart went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, accounting for two of the three Demon hits.
 
Stuart scored the lone run for Northwestern State in the eighth inning. With one out, Stuart doubled down the left-field line and scored when the Panthers made two throwing errors on the play.
 
Sibley's double and Brown's hit by pitch were the only other base runners allowed by Malatestinic and Alex Stevenson, who retired all five Demon hitters he faced to record his second save.
 
After Stevenson retired the final two hitters in the eighth inning, the Panthers added three insurance runs off one hit, taking advantage of a walk, two hit batters and an NSU error in the final inning.
 
"The middle of the lineup didn't get it down," Barbier said. "Those guys hit in the middle of the lineup for a reason. They have been the reason we'd won seven games in a row. Some days, the guy has your number. (Malatestinic) did a good job. This is our second loss of the year, and we responded pretty well last time. That's important for this team – to respond, come out and play hard and play well (Sunday)."
 
The series concludes at 1 p.m. with a matchup of right-handers. Freshman Johnathan Harmon (1-0, 1.50) goes for the Demons against Eastern Illinois sophomore right-hander Jesse Wainscott (1-0, 1.04).
 
Eastern Illinois 5, Northwestern State 1
EIU         000 200 003 – 5 5 2
NSU       000 000 010 – 1 3 2
W – Blake Malatestinic (2-0). L – Cal Carver (1-1). S – Alex Stevenson (2). 2B – EIU, Gunner Smith. NSU, Daunte Stuart, Cam Sibley. HR – EIU, Matt Mackey (1). Highlights: NSU, Daunte Stuart 2-2, 2B.
Records: Eastern Illinois 4-4; Northwestern State 8-2.