NATCHITOCHES – In a back-and-forth matchup, the biggest momentum swing came at the wrong time for the Northwestern State baseball team Saturday afternoon.
 
Visiting Southeastern stunned the Demons with a five-run ninth-inning rally that began with nobody on base and two outs to rally for an 8-5 victory and clinch the opening series of Southland Conference play.
 
"It's obvious what transpired over the last inning of baseball," first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "Our guys are competing. They're fighting. Obviously, the intention was different from what the result was. We have to learn from it, come back tomorrow and go back to the drawing board. We all, in every phase of the game, need to go back and take a look at what we're doing. I'll take a look at what I'm doing, what we're teaching and how we're teaching it.
 
"We'll come back out and continue to fight and scratch, and that's the bottom line."
 
Northwestern State (5-18, 0-2) appeared to have delivered a knockout blow in the back-and-forth middle game of the three-game series in the bottom of the eighth on Daniel Burroway's tiebreaking, two-run home run off Lance Lauve (1-0).
 
Burroway's home run to left came one pitch after a check swing call went his way and put the Demons ahead for the third time.
 
"We got a couple of fortunate bounces to go our way today," Bertrand said. "The right people competed at the right times. For us, it really is a matter of we can't continue to have the self-inflicted wounds that continue to show at the surface if we want the result to change."
 
What changed Saturday's result was a blend of power and patience from Southeastern (17-6, 2-0) in the ninth inning.
 
After Tyler Bryan (0-1) retired the first two batters he faced, Justin Wiliams connected on a solo home run inside the left-field foul pole to cut the lead to one. Three straight walks loaded the bases before TJ Salvaggio welcomed Austin Anderson with a first-pitch, two-run single to give the Lions their first lead since taking a 1-0 advantage three batters into the game.
 
SLU started the game with three consecutive singles against Demon right-hander Dawson Flowers, who began his five-inning odyssey of dancing in and out of trouble by retiring the next three batters he faced.
 
Flowers worked five innings, scattering seven hits and allowing two runs – the last coming on a run-scoring wild pitch in the fifth inning that tied the game at 2.
 
The Demons responded by taking advantage of a run-scoring wild pitch from Southeastern reliever Levi Bennett in their half of the fifth to regain a 3-2 lead, which is where the score stayed until Shea Thomas led off the eighth with a game-tying home run to start the frantic finish.
 
Thomas finished 4-for-4 while Williams went 3-for-4, combining for seven of SLU's 12 hits. Bo Willis (3-for-4) and Reese Lipoma (2-for-5) combined for five of NSU's eight hits.
 
"You have to execute for 27 consecutive outs," Bertrand said. "That's the bottom line. You have to play nine innings all the way through. That's what we'll take out away from it."
 
The series concludes with a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee matchup of right-handers. Senior Will Kinzeler (1-0, 7.02) takes the mound for Southeastern against NSU freshman Dylan Marionneaux (0-4, 8.82).
 
Southeastern 8, Northwestern State 5
SLU      100 010 015 – 8 12 0
NSU     002 010 020 – 5 8 3
W – Lance Lauve (1-0). L – Tyler Bryan (0-1). S – Lakin Polk (3). 2B – SLU, Shea Thomas, Conner O'Neal. NSU, Reese Lipoma, Bo Willis, Hayden Knotts. HR – SLU, Justin Williams (4), Shea Thomas (5). NSU, Daniel Burroway (2). Highlights: SLU, Williams 3-4, HR, RBI; Thomas 4-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs; TJ Salvaggio 2-5, 2 RBIs. NSU, Reese Lipoma 2-5, 2B, RBI; Willis 3-4, 2B, RBI.
Records: Southeastern 17-6, 2-0; Northwestern State 5-18, 0-2.