NATCHITOCHES – For the second time in three games, Clay Jung turned in the biggest, loudest swing for the Northwestern State baseball team.
 
Before that, it was a sparkling defensive play and a pair of professional at-bats that put Jung in position to play the hero in the Demons' 11-4 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday night at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
"These men never flinch," first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "They never flinch, and that's what's really cool about it. We continue to fight and come back from deficits. We continue to grind our way through adversity. The way in which we continue to learn, grow and develop – we talk about veteran leadership and the way that (Jung's) at-bat unfolds. Before Clay's swing, we had a chance in the third, we had a chance in the fourth and we had a chance in the fifth. That veteran leadership and to grind his way through that at-bat but to deliver a swing that not only produced a grand slam but gave our dugout momentum."
 
Jung's third home run of the season was his first at Brown-Stroud Field and his second of the week, joining a three-run shot in a 4-1 win at Grambling on Tuesday.
 
It came after Balin Valentine and Bo Willis drew two-out walks off Kendall Dove (1-3) to load the bases and force the Islanders (14-20, 2-5) to call on right-hander Jack Hill.
 
Hill got Jung to foul off the first pitch before Jung unloaded on an 0-1 fastball, driving it out to right field for NSU's second go-ahead grand slam in its last three Southland games.
 
"The first pitch was a change-up," said Jung, who went 2-for-5. "They had been starting me off soft, so I was ready to attack that early. When I missed it – I was on time with it – I had a feeling they were going to come hard in, so I just let the barrel do the work."
 
Jung's moment was made possible by junior right-hander Chase Prestwich (3-3) and sophomore shortstop Hayden Knotts' performance in the top of the sixth.
 
With runners on the corners and one out, the Demons (11-20, 4-3) trailed by one and pulled the infield in against Islanders center fielder Cole Modgling, who hit a chopper up the middle. Knotts dove and stabbed the one-hopper, throwing out Modgling and keeping Christian Smith-Johnson, who had led off with a double, at third.
 
After a walk to Logan Vaughan, Prestwich struck out Bryce Logan on four pitches to keep the deficit at one.
 
"That was an awesome play," said Prestwich, who worked six innings and threw a career-high 108 pitches. "In that situation, I was just trying to throw strikes and see what happens. He hit a dribbler up the middle, and Hayden made a sweet play on it. It really got us going. We didn't flinch. We had some opportunities in the early innings to get some runs. In the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, we were able to grab the momentum."
 
Once NSU grabbed that momentum, it did not let go.
 
An inning after Jung's mammoth grand slam, Balin Valentine punctuated a four-run seventh inning with his second two-run home run in as many games. Earlier, Valentine keyed a three-run third inning with a two-run single, giving him a career-high four RBIs and six in his past two games.
 
That three-run frame answered the Islanders' four-run third against Prestwich, who scattered five hits in six innings before Caleb Bunch worked three scoreless innings to notch his second save of the season.
 
"We punched right back," Prestwich said. "We got some runs there, and as a team, we kept fighting. I was able to find it in the fourth, fifth and sixth a little more. Me and (pitching coach) Dan (Hlad) talked all week. They're a really good team. They take advantages away from pitchers. I didn't get them to take a lot of bad swings, but in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, I got my other pitches going and our offense stuck to it. We didn't flinch. Whether it was 4-0 or 4-3, we kept battling."
 
Jung, Valentine (2-for-4) and Samuel Stephenson (2-for-2) keyed NSU's 11-hit attack while leadoff hitter Reese Lipoma matched his career high with three runs scored while extending his hitting streak to a career-long nine games.
 
The series continues at 2 p.m. Saturday. Northwestern State will send senior right-hander Dawson Flowers (1-1, 5.74) to the mound against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi right-hander Riley Hunsaker (3-2, 5.36).
  
Northwestern State 11, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4
AMCC 004 000 000 – 4 7 3
NSU     003 004 40x – 11 11 3
W – Chase Prestwich (3-3). L – Kendall Dove (1-3). S – Caleb Bunch (2). 2B – AMCC, Christian Smith-Johnson. HR – AMCC, Garrett Gruell (8). NSU, Clay Jung (3), Balin Valentine (2). Highlights: AMCC, Isaac Webb 3-4. NSU, Valentine 2-4, HR, 4 RBIs; Jung 2-5, HR, 4 RBIs; Samuel Stephenson 2-2.
Records: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 14-20, 2-5; Northwestern State 11-20, 4-3.