EDINBURG, Texas – Turning points come throughout baseball games, but for Northwestern State, the seventh inning has been the pivotal piece lately.
 
For the third straight game, the Demons produced multiple runs in the seventh inning en route to a comeback victory as Northwestern erased an early four-run deficit to defeat UTRGV, 9-6, Friday night to clinch their third consecutive Southland Conference road series.
 
"I think it's the character of the men," third-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. "It's believing and leaning upon the things we say we want to be about, leaning on the pillars and the foundation we're trying to build the baseball program on. We talk a lot about staying in the fight and staying in and punching. We talk about the resiliency and never-say-die about this team. We talk about the next-man-up mentality, and we talk a lot about responses. Tonight was a night of responses, especially from Slim (Dylan Marionneaux)."
 
Eight batters into the bottom of the first, the Demons (20-10, 12-5) found themselves trailing 4-0 as the first five UTRGV batters collected hits off Marionneaux, a junior right-hander.
 
That was almost everything Marionneaux (3-2) allowed though.
 
Once he worked out of a 30-pitch first inning, Marionneaux truly settled in, retiring 14 straight UTRGV (14-17, 9-8) hitters before Julius Ramirez' leadoff single in the sixth inning.
 
"(Pitching coach Dan Hlad) told me to settle down and that our offense would continue to swing it the way they did (Thursday) night," said Marionneaux, who threw 77 of his career-high 116 pitches for strikes in seven innings. "Just calm down. My stuff was playing well. They got a few cheap hits. I know my stuff is good, so I just had to keep pitching the way I was pitching."
 
With Marionneaux sending momentum back to the Demon dugout, his offense responded in piecemeal fashion.
 
Michael McAloose's RBI double in the second scored JT Simonelli, who led off the inning with the first of his career-high four hits. Joe Siervo's second two-run single of the series in the fourth inning continued to chip away at the lead.
 
Then when the seventh inning arrived, the Demons did what they have done in that frame for a solid week.
 
Starting with a two-run seventh at Nicholls this past Sunday, the Demons have scored 11 runs in their past three seventh innings – four of which came in a lead-flipping inning Friday night.
 
Simonelli again was in the middle of the rally, lacing a game-tying double to deep center field to score Ethan Menard, who singled off Steven Oliva (0-2) to start the frame.
 
One batter later, Simonelli scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single from catcher Noah McNeil, who embodied the Demons' next-man-up mentality. McNeil came off the bench and delivered a 3-for-3, two-RBI performance as one of three Demon catchers used Friday.
 
"The message early from the guys (about Oliva) was see the fastball in the zone," McNeil said. "My approach was just see the fastball in the zone and swing at it, but if it was off-speed to take it. Props to the coaching staff to relay that message and for the guys ahead of me to relay that message so I could get the job done for the boys."
 
The Demons' four-run seventh also included an RBI single from Sam Ardoin as NSU built a three-run lead that quickly whittled to one as the Vaqueros turned four walks into a two-run eighth inning.
 
However, there were two more responses from the Purple and White.
 
Simonelli and McNeil started a two-run ninth off Oliva with consecutive doubles before Zach White drove in pinch runner Lane Lusk to reclaim a three-run lead.
 
Following a four-walk eighth inning, Jacob LeBlanc worked around a one-out double in the ninth to post a zero and pick up his first save of the season – one that ended with a sprawling catch from Simonelli in left field.
 
Simonelli's catch came one pitch after it appeared McAloose had retired the final batter of the game with a terrific barehand play on a ball that eventually was ruled foul.
 
"I just want to say great job to Mike and (first baseman) Thomas (Marsala III)," Simonelli said. "They've been working their butts off all weekend on the infield. They've been amazing. I saw the ball short and shallow, and I knew the wind was going to give a shot. I went for it, and it came to me."
 
The series concludes Saturday at 1 p.m. The Demons will send right-hander Trent Hillen (2-1, 5.31) to the mound against a to-be-determined UTRGV starter.
 
Northwestern State 9, UTRGV 6
NSU     010 200 402 – 9 17 0
UTRGV               400 000 020 – 6 7 2
W – Dylan Marionneaux (3-2). L – Steven Oliva (0-2). S – Jacob LeBlanc (1). 2B – NSU, Brooks Leonard, JT Simonelli 2, Micah McNeil, Noah McNeil. UTRGV, Rocco Garza Gongora, Thomas Williams. Highlights: NSU, Leonard 2-6, 2B; Joe Siervo 2-6, 2 RBIs; Simonelli 4-5, 2 2Bs, RBI; McAloose 2-5, 2B, RBI; Noah McNeil 3-3, 2B, 2 RBIs; Zach White 2-4, RBI. UTRGV, Williams 2-5, 2B; Julius Ramirez 2-5, RBI.
Records: Northwestern State 20-10, 12-5; UTRGV 14-17, 9-8.