NATCHITOCHES – As the Northwestern State baseball team opens the home portion of its 2025 Southland Conference schedule, it does so against a team that finds itself in a similar situation.
 
The Demons host Incarnate Word at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Northwestern's home Southland opener. The game is part of a three-game series that also includes a 2 p.m. Saturday matchup and a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee finale. All three games will air on ESPN+.
 
Both the Demons (5-7, 0-3) and Cardinals (8-5, 0-3) suffered sweeps in their conference-opening series. Northwestern fell to Southeastern Louisiana in three games in Hammond while UIW dropped all three of its games to Houston Christian at home.
 
Each team bounced back to grab a midweek win Tuesday with Northwestern thumping LeTourneau, 18-1, while UIW walked off a 7-6 win against Texas State.
 
"They're coming off a great midweek win against an unbelievable Sun Belt team in Texas State," second-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "For us, it goes back to the way we talked to our team (after the weekend). I'm sure a lot of the same things are happening on the other side. You focus not on 0-3. You focus not on losing three baseball games. You focus on what happened, how do I own it and how can I take from it?
 
"Shotz (UIW head coach Ryan Shotzberger) is doing the same thing on the other side. We have great respect for them, and we know what type of baseball team they're capable of being. They probably just didn't play well for a three-game series in the way we felt we left some out there in the three-game series we lost."
 
Northwestern bounced back with an emphatic win Tuesday night against LeTourneau, extending its home win streak to five games.
 
Since dropping the season opener to Central Arkansas, the Demons have averaged 13 runs per game in their five-game home surge.
 
"We wanted to take what we learned from what took place over the weekend, own it and get better from it," Bertrand said. "Now we have to take those lessons on what we did well Tuesday night – how we executed, how we created big innings and how we prevented big innings – and be consistent with it. I'm looking forward to going to battle with our guys in that way that we've grown in the past 10 days."
 
The Demons will be back to full strength on the mound after having to shuffle their starting rotation a week ago.
 
Sophomore right-hander Dylan Marionneaux will start the series opener after missing the Southland opener against Southeastern. Marionneaux returned to throw two scoreless innings in the Sunday finale against the Lions.
 
In Marionneaux's stead, freshman left-hander Carter White spun four-plus solid innings in his first career start.
 
"We're excited to get Slim (Marionneaux) back, and that we were able to come up with a plan that puts us at full strength," Bertrand said. "No matter who's pitching, good starts put you in position to win the baseball game. (So do) throwing strikes, limiting freebies, doing things in the pitching world that prevent crooked numbers and truly make your opponent earn every bit of it.
 
"What Carter did teaches us so much. It teaches us about that mound presence and the competitive spirit it takes. Regardless of whether it's a senior or a freshman, a starter or an emergency starter, doing those things on the mound that win puts you in position to win. He attacked and threw strikes. He held runners. We can learn from what he did. The most important thing is the rest of the pitching staff or the rest of the team learns from what Carter did and uses it to make themselves a better version of themselves. That helps the Demons become a better baseball team."

Series Probables
Friday: UIW LHP Josh Salinas (2-1, 3.71) at Northwestern State RHP Dylan Marionneaux (0-2, 4.66)
Saturday: UIW RHP Jackson Elizondo (1-1, 7.90) at Northwestern State RHP Tyler Bryan (0-1, 9.75)
Sunday: UIW TBD at Northwestern State RHP Trent Hillen (1-1, 5.87)