NATCHITOCHES – With one swing, Gabe Colaianni turned around Sunday's Southland Conference baseball game against McNeese and authored a poetic conclusion to his Northwestern State home career.
 
Colaianni's one-out solo home run in the seventh inning started a run of six hits in what became a pivotal three-run inning as the Demons clinched the series with an 8-4 victory.
 
"It's an awesome feeling," said Colaianni, who extended his career high in home runs to six with his first round tripper since April 8. "I couldn't do this without my teammates. We've been picking each other up all year long. I knew (McNeese pitcher J.T. Moeller) was coming with a changeup.
 
"They tried to get me with a couple of them this weekend, so I waited for the one I wanted and nailed it."
 
Colaianni's blast doubled Northwestern State's one-run lead and came after Moeller retired the first nine batters he faced in relief of losing pitcher Burrell Jones (4-3).
 
After struggling for three innings against Moeller, the Demons (27-22, 12-9) were rejuvenated by Colaianni's sixth home run of the season.
 
Michael Dattalo and Daunte Stuart singled off Moeller before Brock Barthelemy entered and surrendered three straight singles to Jake Haze, Broch Holmes and Gray Rowlett – the final two of which scored runs.
 
Holmes' single to center gave him a career-high-tying three RBIs in what could be his final game at Brown-Stroud Field. Holmes, like Colaianni, was one of 11 Demon players who finished their degrees this spring.
 
A junior outfielder from Livingston, Texas, Holmes got the Demons on the board with a second-inning RBI single and broke a 2-all tie with a sacrifice fly in the third.
 
"Being 22 years old, having played this game my whole life and wrapping up my career here in Natchitoches, it's kind of a numb feeling," Holmes said. "Being Mother's Day today, (associate head) coach (Chris) Bert(rand) said, 'What's your motivation today? Is it Mother's Day? Your last game at the field? Senior Day? I fit into all three of those categories.
 
"I took it personally and wanted to come out here and have the best game I can for the Demons. This was a team win. I'm not an I person. It was a team win all the way around."
 
The Demons bounced back from a 4-2 loss Saturday that ended in disputed fashion and rebounded from an early two-run deficit as Drayton Brown (5-6) shook off a tough first inning to work a quality start (six innings, three earned runs) and earn his third win in four starts and fourth victory in Southland Conference play.
 
Brown's stranglehold on the Sunday starter's spot has been a key reason the Demons have gone 6-1 in series finales in conference play and a big factor in NSU clinching a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament in Lake Charles. The tournament begins May 23 at Joe Miller Ballpark.
 
"He's reliable," seventh-year head coach Bobby Barbier said of Brown. "He's going to throw strikes and have a secondary pitch. He's going to do a really good job of competing hard. A lot of times on Sundays, guys get worn down. It's been a long weekend. You get to the park two hours early. He's always ready to go for us."
 
As Brown slowed the Cowboys (32-18, 12-12), the Demons put together a two-run second inning against McNeese right-hander Bryson Hudgens, who made his third start of the season following Tommy John surgery and rehab.
 
Holmes' single and a run-scoring error pulled the Demons even before NSU took the lead for good on Holmes' sacrifice fly in the third.
 
Northwestern State could have had a much bigger inning, loading the bases with no outs, but McNeese's defense produced highlight-reel plays from first baseman Elliot Hebert and center fielder Payton Harden to keep things close.
 
Hebert snagged Haze's hard-hit liner down the first base line for the first out before Harden made a diving snag to rob Rowlett of at least an RBI single to end the frame.
 
Northwestern State turned the tables defensively late in the game, turning two double plays from the seventh inning onward.
 
The biggest came behind freshman right-hander Tyler Bryan, who got Cooper Hext to hit into a 4-6-3 double play that erased the tying run in the seventh. Bryan retired Harden, the reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year, to post his fifth straight scoreless appearance.
 
"He's a freshman, and he's got a guy on base," Barbier said. "He settled in and did really well to get the double play and get a good hitter out in order for Fro (Kyle Froehlich) to close it out in the end."
 
The Demons return to action Thursday night at Southeastern. First pitch for the series opener is set for 6 p.m. in Hammond.
 
Northwestern State 8, McNeese 4
McN      200 101 000 – 4 8 1
NSU       021 200 30x – 8 9 2
W – Drayton Brown (5-6). L – Burrell Jones (4-3). HR – McN, Brad Burckel (8). NSU, Gabe Colaianni (6). Highlights: McN, Payton Harden 2-4; Burckel 2-4, HR, RBI. NSU, Daunte Stuart 2-3; Broch Holmes 2-3, 3 RBIs.
Records: McNeese 32-18, 12-12; Northwestern State 27-22, 12-9.