NEW ORLEANS – Fittingly, the final swing of Saturday's game produced a double play.
 
The Northwestern State baseball team dropped its first Southland Conference game of the season, falling to New Orleans, 10-2, at Maestri Field on a day where the visiting Demons hit into a season-high four double plays.
 
Those twin killings, along with an eight-run UNO third-inning outburst, gave the Privateers (15-12, 2-3) their first win of the three-game set.
 
"We really didn't do a good job offensively," seventh-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "Their guy (Brandon Mitchell) pitched really well. He's been pitching good for a long time here, but we didn't do a good job of staying in good counts and using the whole field. When you're down 8-0 quickly, it's hard. They did a good job against Alex (Makarewich). They scored eight runs in one inning. They took advantage of us making a few mistakes and him leaving a couple of pitches out over the plate. We've got to regroup and come back ready for tomorrow."
 
Makarewich (2-2) and Mitchell (5-2) appeared destined for a pitchers' duel after the first two innings in which Makarewich faced the minimum and Mitchell faced just seven NSU hitters.
 
New Orleans changed that narrative quickly, sending 12 batters to the plate in an eight-run third inning that included a pair of Northwestern State (14-12, 1-1) errors that led to two unearned runs. Issac Williams had the biggest swing, a two-run, opposite field home run to start the scoring and drive in Dylan Mach, who reached on a leadoff error.
 
The eight runs were more than enough support for Mitchell, who worked only one perfect frame during his six-inning performance but succeeded by inducing three of the four double plays turned by the Privateers.
 
NSU put its leadoff batter on base six times Saturday but only cashed in once when Gray Rowlett singled home Michael Dattalo, who reached on an error to start the fourth inning. Dattalo was held hitless Saturday but drew a first-inning walk to extend his streak of reaching base to 26 straight games.
 
The double plays also kept the Demons, who cut into the lead further on Broch Holmes' fifth-inning solo home run, from replicating the Privateers' rally from Friday night when UNO nearly erased an 11-run deficit.
 
After giving up an RBI single to Mach, the first batter he faced, right-hander Dawson Flowers kept the deficit at eight by tossing a career-long 3 2-3 innings of shutout relief.
 
"You've got to come in and execute pitches, and he did that," Barbier said. "We didn't want to leave him in there forever, because he's not really stretched out, but it was good to see that from him coming in and settling the game down and giving us a chance. We've just got to cash in on some of those runners we had on base."
 
Holmes had the Demons' lone multi-hit game, going 2-for-3, while Kasten Furr (3-for-5) and Williams (2-for-4) combined for half of the Privateers' 10 hits.
 
The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday. Right-hander Drayton Brown (1-4, 5.79) will start for Northwestern State while UNO has not announced a starter.
 
New Orleans 10, Northwestern State 2
NSU       000 101 000 – 2 8 2
UNO      008 000 02x – 10 10 1
W – Brandon Mitchell (5-2). L – Alex Makarewich (2-2). 2B – UNO, Mitchell Sanford. 3B – UNO, Kasten Furr. HR – NSU, Broch Holmes (1). UNO, Issac Williams 2 (4). Highlights: NSU, Holmes 2-3, HR, RBI. UNO, Furr 3-5, 3B; Williams 3-4, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 14-12, 1-1; New Orleans 15-12, 2-3.