Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – The Northwestern State baseball team is putting the pieces together one at a time.
 
The Demons, however, were missing just enough to make a difference in Saturday afternoon's series opener against Little Rock, dropping a 6-3 decision to the Trojans at Gary Hogan Field.
 
"It's the same kind of story – we continue to be extremely proud of the fight and the competition," first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "Chase Prestwich and (Caleb) Bunch took the mound tonight and didn't have a single walk or a single HBP. We continue to make tremendous strides in competing in the strike zone. We continue to have guys answer the bell and do what we asked them to do.
 
"We didn't commit an error. We didn't walk a single guy. We made them truly earn all of their runs in an extremely offensive park."
 
While the Trojans (8-6) did not take a free base off Prestwich (2-2) and Bunch, they did stack 14 hits against the NSU right-handers.
 
Five of those hits, including back-to-back doubles, came in the third inning as Little Rock broke a scoreless tie with three runs against Prestwich.
 
The Trojans added two more in the fourth on a sacrifice fly and a hustling play where Ben Harmon scored from second base on an infield single.
 
While Little Rock put together its offense in the middle innings, the Demons (4-10) struggled to string together much against Little Rock right-hander Jackson Wells (1-1), who kept NSU hitless for the first 4 1-3 innings until Balin Valentine singled through the left side of the infield.
 
Wells shook off that hit but could not escape the sixth inning, which started with a Reese Lipoma triple.
 
That three-base hit – the ninth of the season for the Demons – began a three-run inning that included RBI singles from Daniel Burroway and Colin Rains and a run-scoring wild pitch. The Demons had the tying run at the plate before Jack Cline retired Valentine to end the inning.
 
The Trojans tacked on a run in their half of the sixth before Bunch, backed by some strong defense, stranded a pair of runners in relief of Prestwich.
 
"Offensively, we have to find a way in the first five innings to maybe grind our way through some at-bats in a positive way," Bertrand said. "Huge credit to Jackson Wells and the way he threw the baseball. He responded each time we got some stuff going. At the end of the day, I'm still so proud of our guys for what we continue to do. We just have to figure out how to put three phases of the game together."
 
Prestwich followed up his career-high 10-strikeout performance against Troy a week ago by striking out eight Trojans on Saturday.
 
Harmon and Luke Pectol each had three hits to pace Little Rock's 14-hit attack while five Demons had one hit apiece.
 
The series concludes with a 12 p.m. doubleheader Sunday. The Demons will send right-handers Dawson Flowers (2-0, 3.60) and Dylan Marionneaux (0-2, 3.00) to the mound against Little Rock right-hander Hoss Brewer (0-2, 5.52) and left-hander Thomas Kuykendoll (1-0, 5.91).
 
Little Rock 6, Northwestern State 3
NSU     000 003 000 – 3 5 0
LR          003 201 00x – 6 14 0
W – Jackson Wells (1-1). L – Chase Prestwich (2-2). S – Jack Cline (1). 2B – LR, Alex Seguine, Luke Pectol, Nico Baumbauch, Ty Rhoades, Ben Harmon. 3B – NSU, Reese Lipoma. Highlights: Seguine 2-4, RBI; Pectol 3-4, 2B, 2 RBIs; Baumbauch 2-4, 2B, RBI; Harmon 3-4, 2B, RBI.
Records: Northwestern State 4-10; Little Rock 8-6.