BATON ROUGE – A two-run home run in the eighth inning made the difference for Northwestern State in Tuesday night's game at LSU.
 
It was the Demons' inability to break through early that ultimately proved the toughest hurdle for NSU to overcome in a 6-5 loss at Alex Box Stadium.
 
"We had some chances earlier in the ballgame with runners in scoring position, and we gave away some at-bats where I feel like we could have had more than five runs," first-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "The runs at the end were a double and a home run, which is baseball, but within the first four runs, there were some mistakes in which we felt were some self-inflicted wounds and some gift wraps. I wish we had gone about allowing the first four runs in a different way, but all in all, a lot of things we can learn and easy to clean up. You have to be excited – and we are – with the way our guys fought and competed and played."
 
After falling behind 2-0 on Brady Neal's two-run home run in the second inning, the Demons (19-29) responded and took the lead with a three-run fourth inning that featured RBI hits from Hayden Knotts and Reese Lipoma and a tie-breaking sacrifice fly from Samuel Stephenson.
 
Northwestern State maintained that momentum after Tyler Nichol wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam by getting Tommy White to line out to second base in the fourth.
 
The Demons kept that edge and extended their lead in the following inning by taking advantage of a Fidell Ulloa wild pitch with a Colin Rains two-run single. Rains' hit was part of his second straight three-hit game.
 
Since driving in the go-ahead run in Saturday's 2-0 win at Lamar, Rains is 7-for-9 with three RBIs.
 
"As we continue to talk about the growth of this team, what we talk about is gaining valuable experience," Bertrand said. "What you're seeing now is the fruits of Colin's labor in how he is one of the hardest-working guys we have. That's the thing – hitters hit and workers work. You're seeing the fruits of labor mixed with a level of experience gained. That's why he's having success. The game of baseball is rewarding him for going about his business the right way."
 
The NSU bullpen and its defense had its moments to keep the Demons on top for much of Tuesday night's game.
 
Both Conner Bivins in the fifth and Alejandro Marquez in the seventh stranded inherited runners to keep the Demons on top as LSU began to chip away at its three-run deficit.
 
Bivins also worked a scoreless sixth inning that was highlighted by Balin Valentine's diving catch that robbed Jared Jones of a potential RBI double to left field.
 
"It continues to be an unbelievable effort from him as his game continues to get better," Bertrand said. "He continues to bring valuable piece after valuable piece. The defense is coming along, and you're seeing a lot of the same characteristics we mentioned with Colin – he's seeing the fruits of his labor and he's gaining valuable experience and we're mixing a level of play with the talent we knew he had all along."
 
While LSU (32-18) chipped away at the lead, right-hander Gavin Guidry (2-0) worked four shutout innings of relief to keep the Tigers in striking distance before Jones connected on his 21^st home run of the season – a two-out, two-run shot to left-center field off Caleb Bunch (2-1) to swing the game in LSU's favor.
 
"The message we delivered to the team was how proud we were of fight and the great things we did do against an unbelievable baseball team," Bertrand said. "We got 10 hits. For the most part, we were able to suppress their offense from big swings. There are a couple of things we need to clean up."
 
The Demons return to action Friday when they host New Orleans in the opener of NSU's final Southland Conference series of the season. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Brown-Stroud Field.
 
LSU 6, Northwestern State 5
NSU     000 320 000 – 5 10 1
LSU       020 010 12x – 6 8 0
W – Gavin Guidry (2-0). L – Caleb Bunch (2-1). 2B – NSU, Hayden Knotts. LSU, Steven Milam. 3B – NSU, Balin Valentine. HR – LSU, Jared Jones (21), Brady Neal (9). Highlights: NSU, Colin Rains 3-4, 2 RBIs. LSU, Ashton Larson 2-3; Neal 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs.
Records: Northwestern State 19-29; LSU 32-18.