Staff Reports and Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations
NATCHITOCHES – Brothers Cameron and Cole Horton, former Benton stars, will be on opposite sides when Northwestern State hosts ULM at Brown-Stroud Field on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Cameron is a senior first baseman for the Warhawks. Cole is a freshman catcher for the Demons.
Cole made his collegiate debut Sunday, helping NSU defeat Wichita State 3-2 in the third game of the season-opening series. The Demons won the series two games to one.
Horton delivered a key pinch-hit single off a leaping Derek Shaver at shortstop to set up Kendall Foster’s game-tying, bases-loaded walk. That came after Horton watched the first 24-plus innings from the NSU dugout.
“I like to talk about guys who make us put them in,” NSU head coach Bobby Barbier said. “To be completely honest, I thought about redshirting Cole. We have some really good catchers, which is the position he plays, but his batting practice and his at-bats in our early scrimmages have been really good and forced our hand.
“I talked to (assistant) coach (Chris) Bertrand, and he pushed me over the edge to give him an at-bat. He came in a did a really good job. He’s our type of guy. He’s tough. He works hard. He’s got a good swing, a good setup, and he’ll be a really good player for us.”
Cameron joined the Warhawks last season after helping LSU Eunice win the 2018 NJCAA Division II national championship.
He played in 25 games, hitting.254 with three doubles, one home run and 10 RBI. He missed 22 games after suffering an arm injury at Southeastern Louisiana on March 6.
In LSUE’s championship season, Cameron hit .312 in 61 games with 18 doubles, one triple,11 home runs and 65 RBI.
Cameron had one at-bat as a pinch hitter in ULM’s season-opening series against Southeast Missouri State. The Warhawks won the series 2-1.
The Hortons’ presence in the game adds to the list of bragging rights between the former conference and longtime state rivals.
“They’re completely different,” Barbier said of the brothers. “His brother’s about 6-4, 220 pounds. Cole’s built like a linebacker. Their dad, Tim, is a good friend of mine. We’ve gotten to know the family. It will be neat tomorrow night.”
