NATCHITOCHES – Three years ago, en route to a Southland Conference Tournament championship, closer Jose Vasquez said the 2018 Demons "never say die."
 
Turns out, that mantra is applicable to the 2021 Northwestern State baseball team as well.
 
Down to their last strike – and even past it – the Demons tallied a pair of walk-off, extra-inning wins – 4-3 in 10 innings and 6-5 in 11 – to sweep a Southland Conference doubleheader from visiting McNeese at Brown-Stroud Field on Saturday.
 
"I don't know if people understand how tough it is to play that many innings (37) in two days," fifth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "I just stand up here and watch, and I'm exhausted. For those boys to be down twice to their last at-bat and give great at-bats and have some good fortune – obviously that's what happens when you win a lot in this game – I'm just really proud of how we competed."
 
The Demons (25-21, 19-13) built on the momentum of a last at-bat win in the nightcap of Friday's doubleheader to collect their third Southland Conference series win of the season.
 
After Jeffrey Elkins' walk-off single in the 10^th inning of Game 1 on Saturday, the Demon pitching staff turned in a school-record outing on the mound, striking out 22 McNeese hitters, topping the former record of 21 set in a 5-4, 13-inning win against Sam Houston in April 2010.
 
Right-hander Levi David led the way with 14 strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings, establishing a career high and moving into seventh place in NSU single-season history with 94 strikeouts. Alex Makarewich relieved David with a man on second and two outs in the seventh and recorded a strikeout to keep the Demons within two runs at 3-1.
 
An RBI single by Kendall Foster (2-for-4, home run, 3 RBIs) and a sacrifice fly by Jake Haze evened things before the Cowboys tallied an unearned run in the eighth to take a 4-3 lead.
 
It appeared McNeese (22-26, 15-16) locked up the victory and a series split by that margin when Christian Vega (1-5) threw a low 1-2 pitch that Haze swung at and tipped. The umpires ruled catcher Ben David could not hold onto the tipped ball and the Cowboys, who had run out of their dugout, had to return.
 
On the next pitch, Vega uncorked a game-tying wild pitch, scoring Tyler Smith from third base with the tying run.
 
From there, left-hander Cameron Taylor (2-0) flummoxed the Cowboys offense, working a career-long 3 2-3 innings and striking out a career-high seven batters. Even after surrendering a run on three hits in the 11^th, Taylor minimized the damage and set up NSU's 12^th one-run win of the season.
 
"I changed the grip on my curveball last week, so it was the first time I threw it in a game," said Taylor, who used the pitch to great effect. "I worked it in the pen on Wednesday, and it wasn't great, but I got the feel for it the next couple of days. Being on the mound so much (in the bullpen) this weekend before I went in probably helped me get the feel for it."
 
Vega matched Taylor pitch-for-pitch out of the bullpen before succumbing in the 11^th after Cam Sibley reached on a leadoff error.
 
Vega hit Smith and could not field pinch-hitter Cameron Parikh's sacrifice bunt, which loaded the bases. Reliever Hunter Reeves entered and hit Foster with his first pitch to tie the game before Haze shot a 1-0 pitch through a drawn-in infield for the game-winning hit.
 
"I know there are good guys behind me in the lineup, but it's about keeping my composure at the plate, not showing the other team – even if I get behind in the count or some things have gone bad for us – I have to stay true to myself and put the bat on the ball," Haze said.
 
Haze was in the middle of the first-game rally as well, dropping an RBI single in front of a diving Clayton Rasbeary with two outs in the ninth inning to tie the game at 3. Haze's single came of Cameron Foster, who could not hold a late lead for the second straight game.
 
An inning later, the Demons took advantage of a bout of wildness from Foster, who walked Daunte Stuart with one out and Marshall Skinner with two outs.
 
Elkins then drove a pitch to center field out of the reach of Payton Harden for the walk-off hit.
 
"We fought," Barbier said. "Donny (Donovan Ohnoutka) came out and gave us a good long start (eight-plus innings) we needed (in Game 1). Drayton (Brown) was good in the end. Levi was outstanding – 14 punchouts. Cameron Taylor has been up about eight times in the bullpen and hasn't come in lately. It was a great all-around day for Demon baseball."
 
The Demons return to action Friday when they travel to Stephen F. Austin to open a four-game series against the Lumberjacks. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. in Nacogdoches.
 
Northwestern State 4-6, McNeese 3-5
Game 1 (10 innings)
McN      010 000 101 0 – 3 6 4
NSU       100 001 001 1 – 4 7 1
W – Drayton Brown (2-2). L – Cameron Foster (0-2). 2B – McN, Payton Harden. NSU, Daunte Stuart. 3B – McN, Clayton Rasbeary. Highlights: McN, Harden 3-4, 2B, 3 RBIs; NSU, Stuart 2-3, 2B, RBI.
Game 2 (11 innings)
McN      010 000 210 01 – 5 10 3
NSU       001 000 201 02 – 6 7 1
W – Cameron Taylor (2-0). L – Christian Vega (1-5). 2B – McN, Clayton Rasbeary, Tre Obregon, Jake Dickerson, Peyton Johnson. NSU, Marshall Skinner, Tyler Smith. HR – NSU, Kendall Foster (4). Highlights: McN, Payton Harden 2-6; Rasbeary 2-5, 2B; Nate Fisbeck 2-5, RBI. NSU, Smith 2-3, 2B; Foster 2-4, HR, 3 RBIs.
Records: McNeese 22-26, 15-16; Northwestern State 25-21, 19-13.