NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State's baseball team series opener against Little Rock was a celebration of the Demons' seniors.
 
Left-hander Cal Carver spun five more shutout innings and left fielder Jeffrey Elkins delivered NSU's second leadoff home run in as many games to set the tone for the Demons' 9-4 win at Brown-Stroud Field on Friday night.
 
"Jeffrey Elkins was tremendous today," seventh-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "He put an offense that was struggling to get the big hit on his back. He had the big one early and then had one with runners on second and third with two outs that was a big one for us. Cal was great. We wanted to keep his pitch count down. He did fantastic getting us to the sixth against a pretty good offense."
 
Elkins connected on the first leadoff home run of his NSU career on the third pitch he saw from Little Rock starter Hoss Brewer (1-1), sending it over the left-field wall for his first home run of the season and the 25^th of his career. The blast broke Elkins' tie with Tommy Henry for eighth on Northwestern State's career list.
 
It started a career-best, four-hit game for Elkins, whose home run followed Jacob Farrell's leadoff shot against ULM on Tuesday.
 
"We've been talking about it," Elkins said. "I had no homers this year. We've made it a friendly competition since he's jumped ahead. We've worked hard at practice. Our swings are there."
 
While Elkins put the Demons (11-6) off on the right foot to extend their win streak to six, Carver again was stellar in a series opener.
 
The senior left-hander from San Antonio spun five more shutout innings, extending his scoreless streak to 14 1-3 consecutive innings. Carver (3-1) struck out six, lifting his career total to 211 – sixth most in school history, surpassing Dennis Choate on the career list.
 
Carver did not allow a hit until the fifth inning thanks in part to a sliding catch by Elkins to end the fourth inning and keep the Demons ahead 4-0. Elkins sprinted in and speared a sinking liner from Jake White to strand runners on first and second.
 
Little Rock (9-6) broke through once Carver exited following five one-hit innings as Skyler Trevino connected on a two-run home run in the sixth inning, cutting the Demon lead to three, before Andrew Cossio got a called third strike on Aidan Garrett with two men on to end the inning.
 
The Demons struck back in their half of the sixth, snapping out of a cold stretch with runners in scoring position to answer with Elkins again delivering the key hit.
 
With runners on second and third and two outs, Elkins fell behind reliver Scott McDonough 1-2 in the count and fouled off a pitch before depositing a two-run single into shallow left-center field to re-establish a five-run lead. It was the Demons' first hit with runners in scoring position since Michael Dattalo's two-run double in the second inning, snapping a team-wide 0-for-9 skid with runners on second or third.
 
"It shows the maturity over his career," Barbier said. "It shows what happens when he gets some at-bats under his belt. He's a guy who sometimes takes a little bit to get going. He's been fantastic for us the last couple of weeks. We got him in the leadoff spot for probably the first time in his life, and it paid off."
 
Elkins, Dattalo (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) and Gray Rowlett (2-for-5) combined for eight of NSU's 10 hits while Luke Pectol had two of the Trojans' four hits off four NSU pitchers.
 
The series continues at 2 p.m. Saturday with a matchup of right-handers. Jackson Wells (2-0, 0.42) starts for Little Rock against Northwestern State's Alex Makarewich (2-0, 3.27).
 
 
Northwestern State 9, Little Rock 4
LR           000 002 101 – 4 4 0
NSU       220 102 20x – 9 9 2
W – Cal Carver (3-1). L – Hoss Brewer (1-1). 2B – NSU, Michael Dattalo, Gray Rowlett 2. HR – LR, Skyler Trevino (6), Aidan Garrett (1). NSU, Jeffrey Elkins (1). Highlights: LR, Luke Pectol 2-5. NSU, Elkins 4-5, HR, 3 RBIs; Dattalo 2-4, 2B, 2 RBIs; Rowlett 2-5, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs.
Records: Little Rock 9-6; Northwestern State 11-6.