CONWAY, Arkansas – The 2026 Northwestern State baseball team finally found a deficit it could not overcome.
After fashioning come-from-behind victories in three of its first four games, the Demons could not make it four of five, falling behind early and dropping a 5-4 decision to Central Arkansas in the opener of a four-game series at Bear Stadium on Friday afternoon.
"We didn't necessarily do enough to find ourselves in position to ultimately win the baseball game," third-year head coach
Chris Bertrand said. "Early in the game, it was a lack of execution and a lack of the right type of competitive energy for the first four runs the score coming with two outs. We've got to find a way to get off the baseball field in those situations. It took us way too long to find a rhythm offensively. We continue to be proud of the level of competitiveness and the level of fight our guys exhibit, but we have to – at some point in time – find a way to merge our fight with better baseball, and we have to find a way in game No. 6 of the season to start better."
The Demons (4-1) fell victim to a pair of key two-out swings by Central Arkansas leadoff hitter Zeb Allen.
Allen put the Bears (3-2) ahead in the second with a two-out RBI single. Two innings later, Allen delivered the most productive swing of the game, driving a three-run home run to right field off Northwestern starter
Carter White (0-1).
White had retired the first two batters in the fourth, capping a run of six straight outs, before Casey Shipley singled to right field. Kade Seldomridge followed with a single to right before Allen connected on his first home run of the season.
Northwestern began its road back in the fifth as freshman second baseman
Brock Davis homered off UCA right-hander Denver Hamilton (1-0).
An inning later, the Demons produced their lone multi-run inning of the game as
Bryce Johnson's two-run, pinch-hit double sliced the deficit to two. The inning could have been even more productive, but Hamilton induced his second 5-4-3 double play of the game after issuing a leadoff walk to
Joe Siervo.
Three times in his six innings, Hamilton allowed a leadoff man to reach but erased him via either a double play or other help from his defense.
"One of the storylines is every time we tried to create momentum, we were never able to hold it, never able to capitalize on it," Bertrand said. "We had moments where we created some of those sparks, but we just weren't able to light the fire offensively. We just never were able to build enough positive momentum to put up a crooked number or multiple crooked numbers. We had one, but we need to find a way to put up more explosive numbers, because that's what our offense is capable of being."
Northwestern crept within a run in the eighth inning as
Sebastian Huerta worked a two-out, bases-loaded walk before Bear right-hander Hunter Alexander wiggled out of the game. Alexander struck out the side in the ninth to close out his second save of the season.
White worked into the sixth inning before relievers
Bryce Leonard and
Jacob LeBlanc covered the final eight outs. The trio combined for 10 strikeouts, extending the Demons' season-opening stretch of double-figure strikeout games to five.
"I'm very proud of the work the bullpen did," Bertrand said. "Both of those guys threw the ball extremely well tonight and held the game where it needed to be held to give us a fighting chance."
The series continues Saturday with a 12 p.m. doubleheader. Northwestern State will send right-handers
Dylan Marionneaux (0-0, 3.60) and
Kevin Robinson (0-0, 0.00) to the mound against Central Arkansas right-handers Caden Meeler (1-0, 7.20) and Caide White (0-0, 4.76).
Central Arkansas 5, Northwestern State 4
NSU 000 012 010 – 4 9 1
UCA 010 310 00x – 5 10 0
W – Denver Hamilton (1-0). L –
Carter White (0-1). S – Hunter Alexander (2). 2B – NSU,
Bryce Johnson. UCA, Jack Runsick, Casey Shipley. HR – NSU,
Brock Davis (1). UCA, Zeb Allen (1). Highlights: NSU,
Brooks Leonard 2-4;
Thomas Marsala III 2-4. UCA, Allen 3-4, HR, 4 RBIs; Shipley 2-3, 2B: Kade Seldomridge 2-3.
Records: Northwestern State 4-1; Central Arkansas 3-2.
