HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The game of inches went against the Northwestern State baseball team Wednesday night.
 
Facing former Southland Conference rival Sam Houston for the first time since 2021, the Demons went pitch-for-pitch with the Bearkats before a deflected single gave the hosts a late lead in a 5-2 Sam Houston victory at Don Sanders Stadium.
 
"We threw the baseball extremely well for seven of the eight innings we took the mound," first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "Zero in the error column. I thought we played very complementary defense. Our offense did a tremendous job of stringing together quality at-bats to create situations. We just didn't do a good job of cashing in."
 
Northwestern State (5-16) scored single runs in the second and fifth innings, both off the bat of junior right fielder Clay Jung, who started the scoring with a titanic, 446-foot home run to lead off the second inning.
 
The Demons had a chance to extend the lead but saw a bases-loaded, two-out threat end when Samuel Stephenson's line drive went directly to second baseman Easton Loyd.
 
Jung's home run was one of only two extra-base hits in the game – both of which belonged to Northwestern State and factored into the Demons' runs. Down 2-1 in the fifth, Jung followed Daniel Burroway's one-out triple in the fifth with a game-tying groundout.
 
Sam Houston (15-7) made the most of its nine singles – none more than Walker Janek's go-ahead hit in the seventh that put the Bearkats ahead to stay.
 
Caleb Cotton drew a one-out walk off reliever Bryce Leonard (0-2) and took second on a wild pitch before Janek's line-drive glanced off the glove of a diving Stephenson and trickled into right field for the go-ahead run.
 
"When we made mistakes that created opportunities for them, they were able to cash in," Bertrand said. "When we created opportunities for us, we had an inability to cash in. When you look at it, a little tighter pitch execution in the most critical moments and a little tighter execution offensively in the game's most critical moments and we're right there with a chance to win it."
 
Underscoring Bertrand's point, both teams issued six walks Wednesday night. None of the six Demons who drew a free pass scored while the Bearkats converted two walks into runs and added a third on a bases-loaded hit by pitch in their two-run eighth inning.
 
The Demons put continuous pressure on five Bearkat pitchers, including bringing the tying run to the plate against Chandler David (2-3) in the eighth on Jung's one-out single but could not come up with a pivotal hit.
 
"I'm proud of the team in the way we fought and the way we executed game plans offensively and on the pitcher's mound against an unbelievable baseball team," Bertrand said. "We're proud of the effort in game No. 21. What we need to do now is take all of the lessons we've learned and take advantage of a fresh start Friday night and become the baseball team we all know we're capable of being. Hopefully, everything we've been through has made us better for it."
 
The Demons return to action Friday when they host Southeastern in the first game of Southland Conference play. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
Sam Houston 5, Northwestern State 2
NSU     010 010 000 – 2 5 0
SH         011 000 12x – 5 9 0
W – Chandler David (2-3). L – Bryce Leonard (0-2). S – Wyatt Tucker (3). 3B – NSU, Daniel Burroway. HR – NSU, Clay Jung (1). Highlights: NSU, Jung 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs. SH, Walker Janek 2-4, 2 RBIs; Jace Martinez 2-3, 2 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 5-16, Sam Houston 15-7.