NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Lately it seems no one does one-run games better – or more often – than the Northwestern State baseball team.
 
More than 40 percent of the Demons' games entering this weekend's four-game Southland Conference series at Stephen F. Austin, which begins at 6:30 Friday night, have been decided by the slimmest of margins.
 
Northwestern State (25-21, 19-13) has found recent success in those taut contests, winning its past seven one-run games to move its record in those games to 12-7 on the season.
 
"Those one-run games early in the year were not going our way," fifth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "We stuck with it and stayed with it, and that's what you're seeing now – guys who fought through it and didn't give in when you lose those one-runners early. Fortune is starting to go our way and rewarding them for their stick-to-it-iveness."
 
In addition to Friday's series opener, the weekend schedule includes a 1 p.m. Saturday doubleheader and a 1 p.m. Sunday single game.
 
Buoyed by three straight one-run victories, the Demons enjoyed a bounce-back series against McNeese this past weekend, taking three of four from the Cowboys.
 
Freshman infielder Jake Haze played a direct role in the final two wins of the series, consecutive extra-inning, walk-off wins that gave the Demons their fourth doubleheader sweep of the season.
 
Haze singled home the tying run in the Demons' 4-3 Game 1 win against McNeese this past Saturday before capping an 11-inning, 6-5 win with a walk-off RBI single. Haze previously had tied the second game of the doubleheader with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly.
 
"Jake doesn't get too worked up," Barbier said. "He's a very even-keeled player, which is what I like about him. That's not to say he doesn't play with passion or emotion, but he doesn't get too worked up and leave what he's good at."
 
Where the Demons have excelled throughout the season has been on the mound, especially in the starting rotation.
 
That strength was on display again this past weekend as both left-hander Cal Carver and right-hander Donovan Ohnoutka completed eight innings. Right-hander Levi David capped the weekend with a career-high 14 strikeouts, moving his Southland-leading total to 94 on the season, the seventh-most strikeouts in NSU single-season history.
 
"We've got some dynamic pitchers in that rotation," Barbier said. "When they're good, it makes it really hard on an offense. Donny is around the top of the league in batting average against and Levi in strikeouts. Cal has been our most consistent pitcher. We have a lot of different looks, and that makes it tough. I feel good any time those guys roll out there."
 
While the Demons have changed the order of their rotation, Carver, Ohnoutka, David and right-hander Johnathan Harmon will face a Stephen F. Austin (16-27, 13-18) team that has dealt with a roller-coaster season.
 
The Lumberjacks opened the season with a win against Big 12 member Oklahoma and owns series wins against McNeese (4-0) and Sam Houston (2-1) as well as a series split with New Orleans, which leads the conference standings with 66 points.
 
"I'm anticipating a tough series," Barbier said. "This is a team that went into McNeese and swept them. McNeese has a really good team. We need to play a little better on the road. We don't get to host the conference tournament. It all starts on the mound with them giving us a chance to win. If we can get off to a good start and have those good at-bats we've had the past six weeks or so, we'll have a chance."
 
Series Probables
Friday – Northwestern State LHP Cal Carver (6-4, 3.12) at Stephen F. Austin RHP Joseph Sgambelluri (3-4, 5.10)
Saturday – Northwestern State RHP Donovan Ohnoutka (2-1, 2.31) and RHP Levi David (2-5, 3.93) at Stephen F. Austin RHP Joe Todd (3-2, 4.70) and LHP Angelo Gennari (3-4, 5.63)
Sunday – Northwestern State RHP Johnathan Harmon (4-3, 4.92) at Stephen F. Austin TBA