NATCHITOCHES – Something different arrives at Brown-Stroud Field this weekend – Southland Conference play.
 
The message Bobby Barbier has for his Northwestern State baseball team ahead of its SLC series against Abilene Christian, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, remains the same.
 
"We don't really talk about conference as being anything different," Barbier said. "We want to attack everything the same way. I don't know why you want to play better in conference play, because that means you're playing worse in non-conference play. The message has to be consistent – the work that goes into today, the work that went into (Wednesday) where the elements made it tough – that consistent works builds a consistent team regardless of who we are playing. The consistency and the work, hopefully, produces consistency like we have for most of the year."
 
The Demons (9-3) have pitched as consistently as any team in the Southland Conference and are among the national leaders in team ERA (1.90, 7^th), hits allowed per nine innings (5.73, 9^th) and WHIP (0.99, 12^th).
 
For the second straight weekend, the Demons will roll out a starting rotation of junior right-hander Logan Hofmann (3-0, 0.00) on Friday, sophomore left-hander Cal Carver (1-1, 1.38) on Saturday and freshman right-hander Johnathan Harmon (2-0, 1.35) on Sunday.
 
That trio worked 23 innings against Eastern Illinois this past weekend and limited the Panthers to 12 hits and two earned runs in that span, striking out 26 EIU hitters.
 
Hofmann, the reigning Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week, has worked at least seven innings in each of his first three starts as a Demon and has struck out at least 10 hitters in each his past two starts, becoming the first NSU pitcher to do since Barbier rejoined the NSU program as the pitching coach in 2015.
 
"When you get good starting pitching, the game settles down early," Barbier said. "That allows you to do a few things. If the offense is scuffling, it gives you a chance to get back in it. If you get some early offense like we did against Eastern Illinois, it smothers a team. When those guys throw strikes with multiple pitches, it's hard to put together three or four hits in an inning.
 
"That's what those guys have done well. They've made the offensive put together three or four hits in an inning. That's hard to do in professional baseball, much less in amateur baseball. I'm proud of what they've done, but it's a matter of day in and day out having the consistent work that allows that to happen."
 
In addition to the series opener, the Demons and Wildcats (6-5, 0-0) will square off at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Sunday's game will be another Bark at the Park promotion, sponsored by PetStar Animal Care of Natchitoches. Fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to Brown-Stroud Field for Sunday's game. Streaming video and free streaming audio are available for all three games on www.NSUDemons.com and the Northwestern State Athletics app, which can be downloaded free through the Apple Store or Google Play.
 
Abilene Christian opens Southland Conference play as one of eight conference teams with a sub-4.00 ERA.
 
Second-year head coach Rick McCarty made his name as a pitching coach at Dallas Baptist before taking over the reins at ACU prior to the 2019 season, and his expertise has shown in the Wildcats' early-season pitching numbers.
 
Right-hander Austin Wagner (1-1, 0.00) and left-hander Nate Hawkins (1-1, 1.29) have anchored the starting rotation while the Wildcats' ERA is down more than a run and a half from the end of the 2019 season (5.52).
 
"They're a good team," Barbier said. "Everything we've seen leading up to this shows that. Rick does a really good job and is well thought of in our profession on the pitching side. They play a consistent brand of baseball. We've watched their at-bats, and they give consistent at-bats. They've had good starters and have a big arm in the back end that will strike you out if you let him.
 
"They'll come here ready to play. They've shown they're ready to take that next step that others who have recently entered our conference have done. They're in Texas, which has plenty of players, so they can get it going pretty quickly. It will be a tough challenge for us."