HOUSTON – For the first time in 11 years, the Northwestern State baseball team has won five straight Southland Conference series.
 
As such, the stakes with each successive weekend have risen and will continue to do so when the Demons open a three-game series against league-leading Houston Christian at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Husky Field.
 
The series also includes a pair of 2 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday. Free streaming audio of all three games will be available on www.NSUDemons.com and through the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free for Apple and Android devices.
 
Northwestern (20-14, 12-6) has won 10 of its last 12 Southland games while the Huskies (20-10, 12-3) sit atop the league with wins in each of their first five conference series.
 
"To whom much is given, much is expected," second-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "For us to be in a good spot right now as far as the conference is concerned – and to have five conference series wins in a row in your back pocket – the expectation of wanting to be at the top comes with the fact that the stakes are high. We have to be welcoming of that challenge, and we have to be welcoming of the type of mind-set and type of performance it takes to be successful in those environments."
 
The Demons, since dropping all three games at Southeastern Louisiana during the opening week of conference play, have won consecutive road series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans.
 
Doing so at Husky Field – where Friday's opener marks Northwestern's first night game at the facility – would mean handing HCU its first series loss in a matchup of teams that find themselves in very different situations than when they met in April 2024 – a three-game Demon sweep in Natchitoches.
 
"We've talked at length about how one year of experience can move mountains," Bertrand said. "I think you see our team taking advantage of that type of situation, and it's obvious their team is taking advantage of those types of situations. We're glad for everybody involved that there is so much parity. We're glad that everybody is, at this point, in contention for it. That's what competitors do. That's why you call yourself a competitor.
 
"That's why you come here – to play in meaningful ball games – and, hopefully, our guys answer the bell in those meaningful games."
 
In addition to the implications on the Southland race –the top six teams enter the weekend separated by three games in the loss column – this weekend's series marks a return home for several Demons.
 
The greater Houston area long has been a pipeline for Demon baseball, and this year's roster includes seven players from the metro area, including senior first baseman Daniel Burroway, who leads the team with 10 home runs.
 
"I think a lot of our veteran guys have played in that environment before," Bertrand said. "We know a little bit of what to expect. Those guys that are on our team from the area, whether they have played on that field or in that environment or in that city with the Demons, they did it all growing up. That element of home is something that is good, because it's familiar baseball territory. Maybe that will put us at ease and take one thing off our plate so we can now focus on that whatever-it-takes-to-win attitude."
 
Series Probables
Friday: Northwestern State RHP Dylan Marionneaux (3-2, 3.65) at HCU RHP Parker Edwards (1-2, 4.54)
Saturday: Northwestern State RHP Tyler Bryan (1-4, 6.97) at HCU RHP Joshua Caravalho (6-1, 4.15)
Sunday: Northwestern State RHP Trent Hillen (4-1, 3.38) at HCU RHP Ben Smith (3-2, 4.31)