NATCHITOCHES – As the Northwestern State baseball team prepares to open a four-game homestand by hosting Grambling on Tuesday night, it does so with a renewed focus on the little things, the margins that so often determine the outcomes of games.
 
The 6 p.m. matchup at Brown-Stroud Field on ESPN+ will give the Demons a pair of opportunities.
 
First, NSU (14-26) can try to bounce back from a tough weekend at UIW while, secondly, trying to grab a second win of the season against the visiting Tigers (16-20).
 
"It's a matter of learning how to win baseball games, and, in those moments, taking better advantage of the moments that decide the game," first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "In the 15 to 20 pitches per game that decide the game, we're getting outplayed in those moments – whether it's cashing in with runners on base or in those pitch-execution moments where we have to clean up. We continue to believe in our team and in the direction we're headed. We continuously learn lessons and improve upon things on a day-by-day, game-by-game, series-by-series basis.
 
"If we want the score to flip in our favor, we've got to, in those moments of execution, find a way to get a big hit, to punch somebody out, to finish a hitter with two strikes, finish innings."
 
In the first meeting between the teams, the Demons executed at a high level on the mound and in the field as pitchers Kevin Robinson, Will Reed, Alejandro Marquez and Tyler Bryan combined on a six-hitter.
 
NSU's defense also had its shining moments, including a 5-2-3 double play with the bases loaded in the sixth that kept Grambling off the scoreboard.
 
Robinson (2-1) will start his second game of the season against Grambling while the Tigers will counter with right-hander Charles Jackson (1-0). Robinson worked five shutout innings in the first meeting to earn his first career victory.
 
While the Demons were able to quiet the Tigers in that first meeting, NSU managed to take advantage of their three hits – the biggest of which was Clay Jung's three-run home run that stood as the biggest swing of the night.
 
Grambling enters Tuesday's game hitting .313 as a team, averaging 8.3 runs per game, and will challenge the Demons in a variety of ways.
 
"(Grambling head coach) Davin (Pierre) does a great job, and he's going to come in with an athletic ballclub," Bertrand said. "He's going to come with a ballclub that has some really quality arms they threw at us. All of those guys we saw had good stuff and threw strikes. We know we're going to get a good attack from them. The athleticism, we know we have to play the short game really well and hold runners. You've got to have great angles and get to the ball in the outfield quickly because they will take an extra base. It challenges different parts of your team, different parts of your game.
 
"In some ways, it sharpens some of them, and, hopefully, in our case it doesn't expose them, and we're able to put together a game plan where we can be effective. We're ready to answer the bell against a ballclub that will make us better and prepare us for everything out of the gate."