NATCHITOCHES – For decades, Southland Conference baseball has been labeled as "an old man's league."
 
By that definition, veteran teams are expected to challenge for the conference championship – and this year a chance to host the conference tournament.
 
In many ways, Northwestern State, which hosts Lamar at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the opener of a three-game conference series at Brown-Stroud Field, fits that mold. In other ways, the Demons have seen more than their share of impact from underclassmen.
 
Thursday's game – along with Friday's 6:30 p.m. matchup and Saturday's 2 p.m. series finale – will air on ESPN+.
 
"What it means for baseball is becoming evident," second-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "What it means for the growth of our program and the direction we are headed, we couldn't be any more proud. The Demon baseball program is in good hands for the future. We're never going look past this week in what is important, but we're headed in the right path. It proves we have a good plan for how we're going to construct things. I'm proud of the all-encompassing nature and the messages it sends when the young guys have success."
 
Northwestern (22-16, 13-8) has seen the most benefit from its underclassmen on the mound.
 
Freshman left-hander Carter White has pitched to a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings, covering 14 appearances. White, a product of Bossier City's Airline High School, sparkled in his lone start of the season – tossing four innings of one-run ball at Southeastern Louisiana in the Feb. 28 Southland opener.
 
Another freshman lefty, Jacob LeBlanc, has struck out 14 in his first nine collegiate appearances while freshman right-hander Wesley Marien has become a trusted arm in the past month.

Marien has collected a win and a save in the past three Southland series, picking up the victory in Game 2 of a doubleheader sweep of Nicholls before closing out the Demons' lone win of this past weekend's series at HCU with four scoreless innings of relief Sunday.
 
"The amount of love and pride I have for (pitching coach) Dan (Hlad) and the way he goes about his work and leads his unit, I'm so happy they're having success," Bertrand said. "They're seeing the fruits of that labor. It shows it's OK to have a belief in those young kids and the high school kids. They're more than capable of having success. It's a tribute to the work they've put in and the way they've let Dan, (director of player development) Joe (Craighead) and (director of player personnel) Dawson (Flowers) into their hearts and minds, helping establish that growth."
 
The visiting Cardinals (31-8, 12-6) will challenge that growth across another pivotal three-game league series.
 
Lamar enters the weekend in fifth place, 1 ½ games ahead of Northwestern and two back of the trio of HCU, McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana, who share the league lead at 14-4.
 
A season ago, the Cardinals won the conference regular-season crown and finished with 44 wins overall. This edition of the Lamar roster comes in having won 16 of its previous 17 games.
 
"We have a tremendous amount of respect for (Lamar coach) Will (Davis) and the team he's going to bring in," Bertrand said. "The last two years, they've been the cream of the crop – with the season they had last year and everything they were able to accomplish. It's obvious what they do is a successful path."
 
The Demons took a step toward that with Sunday's 10-5 win at HCU and a 3-0 shutout of LSU-Alexandria on Tuesday at home.
 
"We have to take all of the things we have learned and bring that into the weekend series," Bertrand said. "We have to recognize our success, in many ways, likes in our ability to be consistent and to be complementary and to play the brand of baseball that makes us the strongest and the most united. Our guys are ready for that and willing to take it on."