The Demons used three home runs to even the weekend series with former Southland Conference foe Stephen F. Austin with a 6-2 victory at Brown-Stroud Field.
The NSU offense backed a strong outing from right-hander Johnathan Harmon, who spun five innings of one-run ball as the Demons improved to 1-1 on the season.
"It starts on the mound with Johnny," sixth-year head coach Bobby Barbier said. "He's been under the weather the last week to 10 days, but he gutted it out and gave us five innings. That was big for our team to see. It gave them momentum and confidence."
While Harmon (1-0) was stingy in his five innings, SFA starter Cully Mangus (0-1) was perfect through his first two before a new NSU face made the most of his Demon debut.
Catcher Bo Willis led off the third inning by turning on a Mangus offering and depositing it over the left-field wall for a home run in his first plate appearance at Northwestern State.
Willis' big swing allowed the NSU offense to breathe and to show its versatility.
Jeffrey Elkins followed Willis' homer with a single and stole second before Cam Sibley (sac bunt) and Larson Fontenot (sac fly) combined to help Elkins cover the final 180 feet for a 2-0 NSU lead.
"The ball's been flying the last two days," Barbier said. "But it's nice to use that part of the game. There are going to be days where the ball doesn't fly, and you have to use different parts of your offense. That's the mark of a good team – one who can do it in a bunch of ways."
Fontenot and Sibley each had much bigger physical swings later in the game, both of which answered SFA (1-1) scoring innings.
The Lumberjacks finally got to Harmon in the fifth on Kyle Cullen's two-out RBI single, but Fontenot responded emphatically with a two-out, opposite-field home run to right-center in the bottom of the inning to give the Demons a 4-1 lead.
It was Fontenot's first home run since March 24, 2019, when he hit a leadoff inside-the-park home run against Lamar at Brown-Stroud Field.
"We know we have a lot more pop than we've had in the past couple of years," Fontenot said. "It was cool to see us come out and all swing the bat. We know our whole lineup can do that. We can hit home runs. We can hit doubles, triples. It's pretty cool to see."
After Harmon exited, freshman right-hander Chase Prestwich gave NSU two innings of one-run ball before Andrew Cossio struck out four in two scoreless innings to seal the victory.
The Lumberjacks nicked Prestwich for a run with two outs in the seventh inning, again setting the stage for an NSU answer, which came from Sibley.
The Demons' left-handed hitting shortstop turned on a 2-1 pitch from Peyton Parker and drilled it out to right field for a two-run home run that effectively closed out the game.
"We had some big hits today," Barbier said. "Bo's homer got us going. Larson extended the lead. Sibley's home run late in the game pushed it out of reach. It was a good all-around day."
The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. Right-hander Drayton Brown (2-3, 1.96) is expected to make the first start of his NSU career while Stephen F. Austin will counter with right-hander Joe Todd (3-3, 4.79).
Northwestern State 6, Stephen F. Austin 2
SFA 000 010 100 – 2 8 1
NSU 002 110 20x – 6 8 1
W – Johnathan Harmon (1-0). L – Cully Mangus (0-1). 2B – SFA, Cal Martin, Gabe Irwin. NSU, Daunte Stuart, Miguel Vega, Gray Rowlett. HR – NSU, Bo Willis (1), Larson Fontenot (1), Cam Sibley (1). Highlights: SFA, Kyle Cullen 2-4, RBI; Jake Zarrello 2-4. NSU, Rowlett 2-4, 2B, RBI.
Records: Stephen F. Austin 1-1; Northwestern State 1-1.
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