BEAUMONT, Texas – The complementary elements the Northwestern State baseball team exhibited in its opening game of the Southland Conference Tournament two days ago went missing Saturday afternoon in an elimination game against bracket host Lamar.
As such, the Demons saw their 2026 season come to an end with an 8-0 loss to the No. 2 seed Cardinals at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
"I think it's obvious that, just from a strictly baseball standpoint, it was not good enough baseball execution on the day," third-year head coach
Chris Bertrand said. "I think we have to be able – on a day like this – to recognize it so that we can continue to learn, because we make that a goal of ours, but at the same time, kind of put it away and be grateful for what it is we were able to learn about our program this season, the people we learned it from and the manner in which we learned it.
"It helped to propel us forward, helped us to continue to stack another brick in this building process and, hopefully, we can continue to build upon a pretty strong foundation through the first three years."
The first two innings typified the day that was to come for the Demons (26-26).
Lamar took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and threatened for more until
Chase Prestwich (1-4) induced an unassisted double-play grounder to
Michael McAloose at third base.
Armed with that momentum, the Demons got a leadoff baserunner as Lamar left-hander Jarret Williams (2-3) hit
Brooks Leonard with his second pitch of the game. Williams recovered to retire the next three Demons and set in motion 5 1-3 innings of shutout baseball.
Buoyed by a two-out, two-run double from Beau Durbin in the second, the Cardinals (30-25) backed Williams with plenty of offensive support while the Demons did not connect on their first hit until
Joe Siervo singled with two outs in the fourth inning.
Down 5-0 with the Cardinals threatening to add to their lead, the Demon defense delivered a pivotal double play as second baseman
Zach White's sprawling stop started an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play that swung the momentum back to the Northwestern side.
Back-to-back, one-out singles from
Brooks Leonard and
Thomas Marsala III put runners on the corners and knocked Williams from the game. Lamar went to the bullpen and reliever Blayne Fritcher shut down the threat by retiring the next two Northwestern hitters.
Fritcher and Ethan Oceguera turned in 3 2-3 innings of one-hit relief to finish the game. Senior catcher
Mason Wray's two-out, ninth-inning single was the Demons' final hit of the game and of the season.
"There was never any question in that respect," Bertrand said of the Demons' competitive nature. "Never thought that for one second. The level of competition, the competitive spirt and the fight they continue to show will never be questioned. It just wasn't very pretty baseball."
Lamar 8, Northwestern State 0
LU 120 200 021 – 8 13 0
NSU 000 000 000 – 0 4 2
W – Jarret Williams (2-3). L –
Chase Prestwich (1-4). 2B – LU, Beau Durbin, AJ Taylor. Highlights: LU, Tab Tracy 2-3, RBI; Durbin 3-3, 2B, 2 RBIs; Brayden Evans 2-5, 2 RBIs; Jake Wagoner 3-5.
Records: Lamar 30-25, Northwestern State 26-26.
