THIBODAUX – Mother Nature lopped one game off the longest road trip of the season for the Northwestern State baseball team, leaving it without a mid-week game for the second time in three weeks.
 
As the Demons prepare to head to Nicholls to begin a pivotal three-game Southland Conference series at 6 p.m. Thursday, sixth-year head coach Bobby Barbier is OK with it.
 
"Last time we didn't play a mid-week game, we came out and played pretty well (on the weekend)," Barbier said. "Over the course of a season, it's good to have some time to get some rest, especially for the pitchers. You're playing a ton, and pitchers never get that quality bullpen practice like we did (Tuesday). It's good for them, and we'll come out ready to compete on Thursday."
 
In addition to Thursday's series opener, the three-game set also includes a 6 p.m. Friday start and a Saturday 1 p.m. series finale. Free streaming audio for all three games will be available through www.NSUDemons.com and the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free for Apple and Android devices.
 
Northwestern State (15-16, 5-4) and Nicholls (17-13, 5-4) make up half of a four-way tie for second place in the Southland Conference as the league hits the halfway point of conference play this weekend.
 
This weekend wraps up a seven-game road trip, which originally was an eight-game swing before Tuesday's weather-induced postponement at Louisiana Tech.
 
The Demons' fifth weather-altered game of the season could prove beneficial for Northwestern State, which sits one game back of league-leading New Orleans.
 
Similarly, the Demons' rough series at Incarnate Word this past weekend may have a silver lining.
 
Northwestern State's three starting pitchers – left-hander Cal Carver and right-handers Johnathan Harmon and Drayton Brown – all had short starts in terms of innings and pitches thrown. With a day less rest because of the Easter weekend schedule, the Demon trio should be ready to go as normal.
 
Those three will start in their normal order against the Colonels.
 
"Those guys have been good all year," Barbier said. "They've been a big reason we have won a bunch of those weekend series. We trust them. They had a tough weekend. On thing hopefully we'll learn is when one of them has a tough start, the next one has to stop it. We talk about it all the time – the poor momentum can be stopped by the guy on the bump. I know this weekend they will be good."
 
Northwestern State also is slowly working its way toward better health offensively.
 
In Sunday's series finale at UIW, first baseman Gray Rowlett and outfielder/designated hitter Broch Holmes made their first starts of Southland Conference play after being limited to defensive and pinch-hitting roles in the first eight conference games.
 
"The only way to get back into it is to go out and do it," Barbier said. "We don't have a whole lot of at-bats in practice when you're playing so many games. You 've just got to go out there and play."