NATCHITOCHES, La. – For the second time in the three-game series, Northwestern State scored multiple times in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally for an 8-7, walk-off win against Eastern Illinois baseball Sunday afternoon at Brown-Stroud Field.

 

Northwestern State (5-3) swept the series with the victory Sunday.

 

Brett Nommensen, Zach Skidmore, Richie Derbak and Ben Thoma all collected a pair of hits and an RBI for Eastern.

 

The Panthers (0-6) carried a 7-4 lead into the ninth thanks to a two-run first and four-run fourth.

 

Eastern starter Mike Hoekstra once again got stronger as the game moved along. He surrendered just one extra-base hit and four runs over six innings. The freshman, who struck out three, also kept NSU off the scoreboard in each of his three innings after the four-run fourth.

 

Ross Jeske retired the first six batters he faced in relief of Hoekstra until the Demons finally got to him in the ninth. A leadoff double and a walk set the stage for the game-winning rally. Derbak took over on the mound after the game-tying run came to the plate and could not close out the contest. Mike Jaworski provided the heroics with a two-out, two-run double.

“Mike Hoekstra did extremely well again today, but we didn't get the starting pitching on Friday or Saturday. And we have a real issue with the closer roll. I'm not putting it all on pitching, either. Game two was a disaster. We just made some defensive blunders. We talked as a staff and it's clear we haven't done a good job. The hitting, pitching and defense have all underperformed. You can blame the players, but we're in charge. To come home without a win is really amazing.”

 

Jordan Tokarz delivered the key hit in EIU's big inning, knocking in a pair of runs with a two-out single. Nommensen followed with a double to right center that plated Tokarz. Derbak opened the frame with a two-bagger and scored on a base hit by Thoma. Also in the frame, Tristan Facer and Ryan Lindquist both executed sacrifice bunts and Neil Wright was hit by a pitch and scored on Tokarz's single.

 

Eastern scored twice in top of the first thanks to consecutive two-out hits from Skidmore and Derbak. Nommensen ignited the rally with a bunt single and scored on a double by Skimore. Derbak followed with a run-scoring base hit to right.

 

Facer basically single-handedly created an insurance run for EIU in the seventh. The transfer was hit by a pitch to open the inning and moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Thoma. Then with Lindquist at-bat, a wild pitch and passed ball allowed Facer to score and make it a 7-4 EIU lead.

 

Jeske worked 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth, earning the opportunity to try and finish off the potential victory. After Derbak retired the first batter he faced on an RBI groundout to third, the order came to intentionally walk the left-handed hitting Justin O'Neil to setup a righty vs. righty match-up. Jaworski won the two-out battle, hitting a full-count pitch into left field for a game-winning double.

 

Three of the seven hits that Hoekstra allowed came in the first inning as NSU answered with a three-spot in the bottom of the frame.

 

The lone extra-base hit Hoekstra surrendered led to a two-out run in the third inning.