By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
MALIBU, California – A fast start allowed the Northwestern State baseball team to settle into its first visit to Pepperdine.
The Demons jumped to an early lead and a trio of Northwestern pitchers did not allow an earned run as the Demons grabbed a 5-1 victory in the series opener at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
“It was very much a Demon-type of win,” second-year head coach Chris Bertrand said. “There are plenty of things that we will be able to learn from and be able to go on the attack (Saturday) armed with that information. There are a couple of things we’d like to have back from today’s game, but those are lessons that will pay dividends as we go through it. We got off to a really fast start, which was good. We got some offense pressure against their best arm, and we made them make some decisions early in the first game of the series. That can pay some dividends for you.”
Seniors Reese Lipoma and Samuel Stephensonstarted the Demons’ offensive surge against Pepperdine right-hander Tommy Scavone (1-5) with a single and double as the first two hitters of the game.
An RBI groundout by Rocco Gump and a two-out Balin Valentine RBI single gave the Demons (29-18) an early 2-0 lead, setting the tone for Northwestern’s third straight win. With their ninth win in the past 11 games, the Demons moved to 11 games over .500 for the first time since the 2018 season.
On a day where the weather conditions favored pitchers, Demon underclassmen Carter White, Bryce Leonard and Wesley Marien took advantage of the circumstances, limiting Pepperdine (11-34) to five hits and continuously made pivotal pitch after pivotal pitch to work around a combined six walks and a hit batter.
The Demons came within three outs of their fifth shutout of the season as a ninth-inning error led to Pepperdine’s only run of the game before Marien completed a three-inning save for his team-leading third of the season.
Marien backed up 1 2-3 innings of shutout relief from Bryce Leonard (4-2), who stranded an inherited runner in the fifth after White worked the first 4 1-3 innings of the game in his third start of the season.
“Any time you put up eight zeroes and your pitching staff allows only one run, it’s a good job,” Bertrand said. “There were a few moments where I think we had a few too many freebies, and I’d like to see us compete better in the strike zone and cut down on some of the big misses, but anytime you have that traffic, there has to be a response in order to hang a zero. We responded all day on the pitcher’s mound.”
While the Demon arms kept Pepperdine off balance offensively, Balin Valentine (3-for-4) delivered his second straight three-hit game while catcher Mason Wray added two hits, including an RBI double in a two-run fourth inning.
Valentine also stole two bases to take the team lead with his 19th of the season.
“He’s doing a tremendous job in the way his game is truly all-encompassing,” Bertrand said. “He’s been swinging the bat well, but what he’s able to do on the basepaths – and the way he plays such a solid left field – his game is really complete. Not just Balin, but Reese got us off to a fast start again today. Rocco (Gump), tremendous. Clay (Jung) hit some balls hard today. Braden Benton did some good things. Players like Mase (Wray), how far he has come, regardless of what takes place within the at-bats. How far his game has come in the way he leads our pitching staff, he’s a big, big part of the success we’re having.
“We have a lot of guys playing their best, and the Demons are close to playing their best.”
The series continues at 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Saturday. Tyler Bryan (1-6, 5.53) takes the mound for Northwestern against Pepperdine’s Dylan Stewart (1-3, 5.68) in a matchup of right-handers.
Northwestern State 5, Pepperdine 1
NSU 200 200 100 – 5 9 2
Pepperdine 000 000 001 – 1 5 1
W – Bryce Leonard (4-2). L – Tommy Scavone (1-5). S – Wesley Marien (3). 2B – NSU, Samuel Stephenson, Balin Valentine, Mason Wray. Highlights: NSU, Stephenson 2-5, 2B; Valentine 3-4, 2B, RBI; Mason Wray 2-3, 2B, RBI. Pepperdine, Joe Cardinale 2-4, RBI.
Records: Northwestern State 29-18; Pepperdine 11-34.