NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State baseball team saw a ninth-inning rally fall short Sunday afternoon at Brown-Stroud Field.
The Demons put together a three-run surge in their final at-bat but could not complete an improbable finish, falling 8-6 to Little Rock in the finale of a three-game, non-conference series.
"On a weekend like this, both of their really good relievers were still available," seventh-year head coach
Bobby Barbier said. "We had to use a lot of our guys before. The wind was blowing out, and they got a few balls up in the air, which is what you're supposed to do when the wind is blowing out. We couldn't get the big hit early, and we let too many things happen in the middle of the game where we didn't put pressure on them. I'm proud of the guys. We played OK. We just didn't get the big hit when we could."
NSU (12-7) saw its seven-game win streak come to a close with the tying run on first base as Jacob Weatherley notched Little Rock's 12
th strikeout of the game to strand runners on the corners.
Weatherley and fellow reliever Austin Stubber notched the final 12 outs for the Trojans (10-7), who got a solid start from right-hander Preston Davis (2-1) to deny the Demons their second straight weekend sweep.
Davis overcame a self-inflicted unearned run in the first and
Jeffrey Elkins' solo home run leading off the third inning to pitch five solid innings, allowing three runs (two earned) while striking out five. More importantly, Davis issued just one walk after the Demons had collected 26 free passes in the first two games of the series.
With Davis minimizing damage, the Trojan offense made their few chances against NSU starter
Drayton Brown (1-3) count.
Brown retired the first eight batters of the game – striking out four -- before Aidan Garrett's two-out single started a three-run rally in the third that was highlighted by Luke Pectol's two-run home run.
Elkins' solo home run answered the first multi-run inning for Little Rock, but the Trojans had another big frame waiting in the fifth.
Garrett delivered a one-out single before Pectol doubled to right. The Demon defense saved a run as
Gabe Colaianni and
Daunte Stuart hit on a relay throw to nail Garrett at the plate. One batter later, Tyler Williams was ruled safe on an infield single to shortstop that extended the inning.
Nico Baumbauch followed with the first of two, two-run home runs in the inning, pushing the Little Rock lead to 8-2 after the inning.
From there, the Demon bullpen picked up where it left off Saturday.
Kyle Froehlich,
Andrew Cossio and
Grayson Gates combined to work the final four innings, holding Little Rock to two hits and a walk while striking out five.
"Credit to their guys – they came out and played well," Barbier said. "It's hard to win all three. You'd like to, but I thought we did some really good things out of the bullpen. Cossio bounced back again. Good to see Gates out there for the first time (this year). We had a lot of good things happen today. We just came up a little short.'
The Demons finally solved Stubber in the ninth as
Brayden Cust and pinch hitter
Broch Holmes drew walks before Elkins welcomed Weatherley with an RBI double.
Stuart walked to load the bases and, two batters later,
Gray Rowlett delivered a two-run single to right to slice the lead to two before Weatherley escaped.
The Demons return to action Tuesday when they host LSU-Alexandria in the final game of their season-long, eight-game homestand. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Little Rock 8, Northwestern State 6
LR 003 050 000 – 8 10 1
NSU 101 010 003 – 6 6 0
W – Preston Davis (2-1). L –
Drayton Brown (1-3). 2B – LR, Luke Pectol. NSU,
Jeffrey Elkins. 3B – LR, Tyler Williams. HR – LR, Pectol (2), Nico Baumbauch (8), Skyler Trevino (7). NSU,
Jeffrey Elkins (2). Highlights: LR, Luke Pectol 2-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI; Williams 2-5, 3B, RBI; Baumbauch 2-3, HR, 3 RBIs; Aidan Garrett 2-4. NSU, Elkins 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs;
Gray Rowlett 2-5, 3 RBIs.
Records: Little Rock 10-7, Northwestern State 12-7.
