Northwestern State University of Louisiana men’s baseball team came out of the weekend on a positive swing despite not sweeping the series. NSU hosted Alabama’s Troy University Trojans over the weekend to come out of the series with a 2-1 win.
Unfortunately, the Demons lost past Sunday night, with a score of 0-7, as the Demons just couldn’t figure out how to answer offensively. As right-hander Clete Hartzog pitched a four-hit shoutout to the Demons’ hitters.
Despite this, head coach Chris Bertrand was not disturbed nor ashamed of his players performance. Instead Coach Bertand praised the Trojans on not going down without a fight and the players for showing great execution and pose to win the game.
“They were short the last two nights. The way they responded today was fantastic for them. All the credit in the world to head coach Skylar Meade and Hartzog in the way they did it,” Bertrand said.
March 2, the Demons won 6-3 in a pitching effort by the NSU Demons pitching team. Dawson Flowers, senior right-handed pitcher, pitched six straight innings allowing zero runs.
Despite giving up two runs in the second inning, the defense was the factor in the win for the Demons.
Bertrand discussed the grit and resolve his players have for being tied 2-2 in the second inning and being able to perform and win in a convincing fashion.
“We’re playing with some grit, and we’re playing with some resolve,” Bertrand said. “We’re playing with some really cool things right now.”
The series opener on Friday March 1, saw the Demons open with a solid performance against the Trojans as they won 5-3 with a solid effort on both defense and offense. Giving an example of what Coach Bertrand believes the team can be when the execution is there.
“We get to feel the joy we do because we won the game, but more than that, I’m proud of the men’s comprise of this team,” Bertrand said “Tonight, you saw what we’re capable of doing, but more importantly, you saw people continue to answer the challenge of cleaning up the brand of baseball. You saw what we’re capable of when we do that.”
The pitching team put out another great performance as Chase Prestwich, junior right-handed pitcher, pitched 10 batter strikeouts. A performance that hasn’t been done since March 11, 2023.
NSU is now 4-8 in the season after the weekend and look to keep the momentum going as the homestead continues Wednesday, March 6 at Brown-Stroud Field, as they take on an in-state opponent, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin Cajuns.
This coverage is at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ as the NSU Demons look to finish the home run. The team will be back on the road March 8 against University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans in a three-game series.
