HOUSTON – After opening its Southland Conference series against Northwestern State with back-to-back wins to win a sixth-consecutive SLC series, HCU baseball dropped the finale, 10-5, to the Demons on Sunday afternoon at Husky Field.

With strong winds blowing out to center for much of the game, the Demons (21-16, 13-8 SLC) jumped on the board early with two singles to lead things off followed by a three-run homer to left-center off the bat of Balin Valentine that was immediately followed by a solo shot from Rocco Gump. Four batters later, Mason Wray drove a three-run homer to left center to give NSU a commanding 7-0 lead before HCU (22-12, 14-4 SLC) had a chance to swing a bat.

The Huskies responded in the bottom of the first, however. Tevis Payne reached on a walk with one out followed by a single to left by Jack Walker. Parker Edwards then crushed a three-run home run to left, cutting the deficit to 7-3. After a pair of quiet innings, the Demons tacked on another run in the fourth with a solo homer from Braden Benton.

HCU kept fighting and in the bottom half of the fourth the Huskies again answered with runs. Back-to-back doubles by Luke Bard and Matthew Leiterman to lead off the inning brought in a run, followed by an RBI single from Jeremy Rader to make it 8-5.

NSU extended its lead in the sixth with a two-out, two-run single from Colin Rains after Valentine and Gump led off with consecutive singles with an error and a stolen base putting them in scoring position. The Huskies stranded two runners in the sixth and then saw both the eighth and ninth innings end on double plays.

Edwards led the way at the plate for HCU, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs. Bard and Payne both had two hits.

HCU starter Ben Smith was chased form the game after recording just one out, allowing seven runs, six earned, on six hits. Jacob Cyr pitched 4.2 innings in relief, allowing three runs with two earned on nine hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks. Kyler Mentzel and Ben Norton combined for three scoreless innings to finish the game.

The loss drops the Huskies into a three-way tie for first place in the SLC standings with McNeese and Southeastern with UT Rio Grande Valley just a game behind in the loss column.

HCU now turns its attention to a midweek non-conference matchup at Texas State on Tuesday, April 15. The Huskies will resume Southland play next weekend with a series at New Orleans.