By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
TROY, Alabama – The Northwestern State baseball team’s second series opener of the 2025 season played out much like its first.
The Demons had their opportunities early to open a sizeable lead against No 24 Troy but could not convert several early chances before the Trojans seized the momentum and turned it into a series-opening 7-1 win at Riddle-Pace Field on Friday afternoon.
“We have to have the perspective of recognizing while we are extremely proud of the manner in which we competed, we left a lot to be desired in how we played,” second-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. “We started out the ballgame really well, especially offensively. When we didn’t take advantage of those early opportunities, we never grabbed momentum, and it really fizzled on us late.”
Unlike the season opener against Central Arkansas a week ago, the Demons (2-2) struck first on Daniel Burroway’s second home run of the season – a solo shot to left field off Garrett Gainous (1-0) in the second inning.
Demon starter Dylan Marionneaux (0-2) made the lead stand up after wiggling out of trouble in the home half of the second inning.
Marionneaux struck out four in two scoreless innings before the Trojans (4-1) broke through with a four-run third inning. One of the nation’s top scoring offenses, Troy took advantage of a leadoff walk and hit by pitch to start its lone multi-run inning of the game.
“I thought we had some opportunities to execute some pitches and to make some defensive plays throughout the game,” Bertrand said. “When you don’t do those things, you’re never able to grab momentum, and you’re never able to get anything you can use to rally or make a run so to speak.”
The Demons had a chance to break things open against Gainous in the third inning.
Leading 1-0, former Benton standout Hudson Brignac led off with a single, took second on a wild pitch and went to third on a Reese Lipoma groundout.
After a one-out Samuel Stephenson walk and stolen base put runners in scoring position with one out, Gainous got a popout before walking Braden Benton to load the bases. Gainous escaped trouble by getting Balin Valentine on a check-swing ground ball to end the inning.
Northwestern next had a chance to respond to Troy’s four-run third when Burroway singled to start the fourth and Colin Rains drew a walk. Mason Wray’s sacrifice bunt moved the runners up 90 feet before a fielder’s choice and a groundout kept the Demons off the board.
“I’m so proud of how hard we’re competing, but at certain times, we’re not executing very well,” Bertrand said. “Burroway is to be commended for the individual performances he’s having right now, but a lot of guys are taking tremendous strides forward with their approach, with swing adjustments. We’re doing a really good job offensively.
“I think that was reflected in how we drove a Friday night Sun Belt starter’s pitch count up early in the ballgame. We did some good things to pressure him. We just have to go back to the drawing board in cashing in on those opportunities. When you do, it changes the complexion of the game.”
Burroway had his second two-hit game in his past three games while Blake Cavill paced Troy’s 11-hit attack by going 4-for-5.0
The series continues at 12 p.m. Saturday in a matchup of right-handers. Junior Tyler Bryan (0-0, 9.00) will start for Northwestern against Troy’s Noah Edders (1-0, 1.50). Free streaming audio of the game will be available onwww.NSUDemons.com and through the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free for both Apple and Android platforms.
No. 24 Troy 7, Northwestern State 1
NSU 010 000 000 – 1 4 1
Troy 004 101 10x – 7 11 1
W – Garrett Gainous (1-0). L – Dylan Marionneaux (0-2). 2B – Steven Meier, Blake Cavill, Gavin Shrader, Mike Bello. HR – NSU, Daniel Burroway (2). Highlights: NSU, Burroway 2-4, HR, RBI. Troy, Cavill 4-5, 2B, RBI; Brooks Bryan 2-3, RBI.
Records: Northwestern State 2-2; Troy 4-1.
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