HAMMOND – The Northwestern State baseball team's first Thursday night game of the season went well for eight innings.
 
The final inning plus, however, went against the Demons, allowing homestanding Southeastern to rally for a 6-5, 10-inning Southland Conference victory in the series opener at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
 
"We just played poorly," seventh-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "That's what it comes down to. We handed them the ball game at the end – walking guys and letting them run all over us. We didn't have an answer for that. We didn't play good defense. You can have a tally board of all the things we did poorly today.''
 
Despite leaving 11 runners aboard in regulation – including the bases loaded in the third and ninth innings – the Demons (27-23, 12-10) took a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning.
 
Two one-out walks and a double steal put runners on second and third before Rhett Rosevear delivered a game-tying, two-run single off Michael Dattalo's glove at third base. The double steal by Dane Watts and pinch runner Clay Cook was the sixth and seventh stolen bases of the night for the Lions. Watts swiped four himself, including two in the fourth inning.
 
Kyle Froehlich (4-2) escaped further damage in the ninth, stranding Cook at second but a leadoff hit by pitch and the second error of the game by Northwestern State set up Champ Artigues' walk-off double inside the first base bag with no outs in the 10^th.
 
The late SLU rally kept left-hander Cal Carver from notching the 18^th win of his Demon career, which would have moved him into a tie for ninth place on the program's all-time list.
 
Carver turned in a quality start, working six innings and allowing three runs. A senior left-hander from San Antonio, Carver did not walk a batter and struck out seven, his highest number in eight Southland starts this season.
 
Carver's seven strikeouts gave him 252 for his career, three shy of tying Heath Hennigan's NSU career record.
 
"He was really good," Barbier said. "I thought he battled to get us six innings. He fought for us. We had the one inning where we let them back in it after our two spot, but he made them hit it, which is what you need to do."
 
The Lions (23-25, 7-14) scored all three runs against Carver in the second before the left-hander truly settled in and retired the final seven batters he faced.
 
That gave Gabe Colaianni time to deliver the biggest swing the Demons had Thursday night.
 
Colaiainni connected on a 1-0 pitch from SLU starter Andrew Landry for a three-run home run in the fourth inning that gave the Demons a 5-3 lead. The Demons drove Landry from the game in the fifth after 4 1-3 innings, dinging him for five runs on five hits and drawing four walks.
 
NSU could not replicate that success against relievers Lakin Polk, who spun 4 2-3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing three hits, and Lauve, who stranded runners on the corners in a scoreless 10^th.
 
"We've shown after we've played poorly we come out and play well," Barbier said. "I have full trust in that."
 
Colaianni finished 3-for-4 with his career-high seventh home run. His 36 RBIs also are a career high.
 
The series continues at 6 p.m. Friday with a matchup of right-handers. Alex Makarewich (5-4, 4.99) takes the mound for Northwestern State against SLU's Will Kinzeler (5-1, 3.47).
 
Southeastern 6, Northwestern State 5, 10 innings
NSU       020 300 000 0 – 5 8 2
SLU        030 000 002 1 – 6 9 1
W – Lance Lauve (3-2). L – Kyle Froehlich (4-2). 2B – NSU, Michael Dattalo. SLU, Shea Thomas, Champ Artigues. 3B – SLU, McGwire Turner. HR – NSU, Gabe Colaianni (7). SLU, Artigues (1). Highlights: NSU, Colaianni 3-4, HR, 3 RBIs. SLU, Rhett Rosevear 2-4, 2 RBIs; Thomas 2-5, 2B; Artigues 2-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBIs; Turner 2-3, 3B.
Records: Northwestern State 27-23, 12-10; Southeastern 23-25, 7-14.