Everything went according to plan for the Northwestern State baseball team in its return home Tuesday night.
Three Demon pitchers held Centenary’s offense down while the veteran Northwestern lineup turned a spate of extra-base hits into an 11-1, seven-inning victory against the Division III Gents at Brown-Stroud Field in the first meeting between the programs in 15 seasons.
“A very workmanlike win,” second-year Northwestern coach Chris Bertrand said. “We got tremendous work done today. We got tremendous learning done today. I thought the ballgame played a certain way the first couple of innings, and then we were able to open it up in the third and the fourth.”
Those crooked-number innings propelled the Demons (15-9) to their 10th straight win at Brown-Stroud Field and their sixth straight midweek win to start the season.
The 11-run performance – with nine of those coming in the third and fourth innings – kept another streak alive as Northwestern has scored in double figures in all six of its midweek games.
While sophomore right-hander Kevin Robinson (5-0) kept the Gents (9-15) off-balance for four innings, allowing only an unearned run, the Demons took a little time to solve Centenary starter Roman Ardoin.
Balin Valentine unlocked the Demon offense by shooting the first pitch he saw in the second inning to right-center field for a triple.
Valentine scored on Daniel Burroway’s single one pitch later, but it was Valentine’s third-inning swing that truly began the Demon offense’s breakout.
A season after leading the Demons with 10 home runs, Valentine connected on his first of the season, a two-out, two-run shot to left center off Centenary reliever Coen Laroux.
“I just tried to take what the pitchers gave me and put an athletic swing on it,” Valentine said. “I think the homer was better. It was good to be seeing it good and swinging it good.”
Northwestern continued to swing it well – and take advantage of a pair of bases-loaded walks – in the fourth inning.
The biggest swing came from senior third baseman Rocco Gump, whose bases-clearing triple highlighted the six-run frame.
With seniors Valentine, Gump and Reese Lipoma (1-1, 3 walks, 3 runs scored) leading the offense, three underclassmen pitchers combined to limit the Gents to five hits and the unearned third-inning run.
Following Robinson’s four strong innings, freshman Wesley Marien turned in two-plus scoreless innings in the first multi-inning appearance of his Demon career. After Marien allowed a leadoff single in the seventh, sophomore right-hander Austin Anderson needed just four pitches to record the final three outs.
The Demons continue their four-game homestand Friday when they host Nicholls in the opener of a three-game Southland Conference series. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Brown-Stroud Field.
