By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
HAMMOND – Throughout his first year as Northwestern State’s head baseball coach, Chris Bertrand has stressed learning at all levels to his team.
As the Southland Conference Tournament arrives, so has the time for the Demons to put 53 games worth of lessons into action.
Fourth-seeded Northwestern State starts its sixth straight appearance in the league tournament with a 9 a.m. Wednesday matchup against fifth-seeded McNeese at Southeastern’s Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field, looking to carry with them the momentum gained from a regular season-ending three-game win streak.
Wednesday’s opener and the entirety of the tournament will air on ESPN+. Free streaming audio will be available throughwww.NSUDemons.comand the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free for Apple and Android devices.
“That’s why we discuss it in that way – for all of the things whether they are realistic or coachspeak – we always talk about getting hot at the right time, playing your best baseball at the end of the season, being good in the postseason,” Bertrand said. “When we were teaching it, we were not only trying to gain experience as a total ballclub, but we were trying to gain those experiences that we could use as we prepared for this week. I’m proud of the way our guys because of the way they put us in position. They earned it every step of the way.”
The Demons (22-31, 11-13) earned the No. 4 seed by virtue of a series win at McNeese (29-25) in late March that saw NSU recover from dropping the first game to win the next two. The first win came via a ninth-inning rally that included Daniel Burroway’s tie-breaking grand slam – one of NSU’s seven grand slams on the season.
The series win at McNeese was one of two road series wins in Southland play for the Demons, who have won 17 of their past 30 games after a 5-18 start to the season.
Projected to finish eighth in the league, the Demons’ newcomer-laden roster new feels complete.
“We didn’t get off to the start we wanted,” said redshirt junior center fielder Reese Lipoma, a second-team All-Southland Conference selection who has started all 53 games atop the NSU lineup and leads NSU in batting average (.319), hits (68), runs (56), doubles (13) and stolen bases (14). “I really don’t think we got it going until midway through the season into conference. We did find a way to come through a long season to find our stride at the end, and hopefully we can keep it going into the tournament.
“A lot of guys got comfortable. We had a lot of different guys from different areas, different levels of baseball come together and build that trust in each other and in coach Bert and the coaching staff. When you get a lot of new guys together, you don’t want to address it, but it does take time. We had a rough stretch. We went through a tough time, and now we’ve come out on top.”
Northwestern State’s offense has awakened down the stretch, scoring double figure runs in four of its final five games of the season – including the final three, which coincided with the newest addition to the Demon baseball family.
Assistant coach Billy Henley and his wife, Maggie, welcomed daughter Harper Grace to the world Monday ahead of the Demons’ 13-2, seven-inning win against New Orleans. In the three games since the Henleys became parents, the Demons are averaging 13.3 runs per game.
“Whether it be superstitious or a good luck charm, you couple that with the way our team went about their business, I’m so happy for them,” Bertrand said. “Monday, our guys working on the field and the rain delays and getting canceled. We had to respond on Friday and again on Saturday. We made adjustments to the pitching staff and have some guys do some different things. Our team is made up of guys who consistently put their fists up and don’t allow external things to become distractions.”
The NSU pitching staff has dealt with the constant of change throughout the 2024 season, and the Demons’ starter in the tournament opener – sophom*ore right-hander Tyler Bryan (1-2, 4.74) – is emblematic of that.
Bryan shares the team lead with four saves but has started three of the previous four weekends. He began his career as a starter with 10 2-3 scoreless innings in taking to the role with aplomb. He will be opposed by McNeese right-hander Zach Voss (1-5, 6.22).
“We said it could look different on different nights, and we said it could look different at different points in the season,” Bertrand said. “What we’re about is taking the information from what we have learned and find the best possible way to walk away with a win. We love what T.B. has done in the last two or three starts. He’s earned this opportunity. We like the matchup he presents for us against McNeese.”
Bryan is not alone in shifting roles as senior right-hander Dawson Flowers began the year in the bullpen – as he had done his first two seasons – before becoming a mainstay in the starting rotation.
Flowers was one of a handful of returning pitchers with experience and his transition to the rotation yielded a career high in innings pitched (64 1-3) and a reputation as a leader in the clubhouse. Flowers has pitched in the SLC Tournament each of his first two seasons, giving him an understanding of what attitude to bring with him to Hammond.
“This is what we’ve been building toward,” Flowers said. “During the regular season, you don’t want to look too far ahead. You want to focus on what’s right in front of you. This is the time of year we look forward to and want to be playing our best baseball at. We’ll take it one day at a time, one pitch at a time. You have to win four or five games to go through it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t win the game that’s right there in front of you. It’s about staying in the best position you can be and doing what you’re capable of every pitch.”
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