NATCHITOCHES – A day after the Northwestern State arms put the Central Arkansas Bear bats into hibernation in Friday’s 1-0 win, the Demon bats were resurrected in Saturday’s doubleheader for a combined 27 hits in 10-3 and 12-6 wins to complete a three-game Southland Conference baseball sweep.

The wins move the Demons to 21-22 overall and 13-12 in league play.  UCA fell to 18-26 and 9-17 in the conference.

“That was the story of the day was our offense,” said head coach J.P. Davis whose team won for the fourth straight time.  “We really saw the ball well.  That was really the difference.”

Third baseman Joe Urtuzuastegui was one of many to have big sticks on the day.  Urtuzuastegui went a combined 5-for-10 in the twinbill with a home run, double, three RBIs and four runs scored.

Shortstop Trent Grondin matched those numbers by going 5-for-10 with two RBIs and two runs scored.  And first baseman Justin O’Neal finished the day 3-for-10 with three RBIs and three runs scored, including a 2-for-5 showing in game two with his eighth home run of the season.

Demon starting pitcher Jimmy Heard ran his record to 6-3 on the year after he gave up just two runs on four hits in six innings.  He had nine punchouts and walked four.

Kyle Broughton earned his first save of the season after he threw the final three innings, giving up one run on three hits with four punchouts.

“I thought Jimmy did a really nice job in the first game,” said Davis.  “He really had his best breaking ball of the year going for him today.  He was hitting his marks and Kyle was doing the same thing.”

Clayton Cooper (1-4) came out of the pen in game two to pick up the win after he allowed just one run and three hits in 3 2-3 innings.  Andrew Plotkin got the save after he tossed the final three innings.

In game one, NSU jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead after Chase Lyles belted a one-out double then scored on a single up the middle by Urtuzuastegui.  Urtuzuastegui then scored on a throwing error by UCA third baseman Jonathan Yerby.

Grondin blasted a runs scoring double in the bottom of the second to score Dan Meyer to make it 3-0 before the Bears clawed their way back into the game with two runs in the fourth to make it 3-2.

Demon catcher Garret Vaughn smashed a two-run home in the bottom of the inning to put NSU back up by three runs at 5-2 and Urtuzuastegui nailed a solo homer, his seventh of the season, in the fifth to make it 6-2 Demons.

After the Bears scored on a sacrifice fly by right fielder Dillon Smith to cut the lead to 6-3 in the seventh, the Demons scored three runs in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Lance Lacoste and Collin Bear to make it 9-3.

A sac fly by Lyles in the bottom of the eighth scored Grondin, who led off the inning with a double, to give the Demons their 10-3 margin of victory.

Urtuzuastegui went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored in the game while Grondin added a 3-for-5 game with a RBI and a run scored as the Demons struck for 14 hits in the contest.

In game two, the Demons got out ahead early again when O’Neal crushed a solo homer in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0.

The Bears took the lead in the third when Smith cracked a three-run homer to make it 3-1.  The lead, however, would be short-lived as the Demons put up a 10-spot in the bottom of the inning to go up 11-3.

In the frame, Meyer started a one-out rally with a single that would be followed by seven more consecutive hits, including a two-run single by O’Neal, a two-RBI double by Beau Snodgrass, and another two-run single by Bear.

UCA added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Will Wagner which scored catcher Beau Geren, but NSU made it 12-4 on a RBI double by Lyles in the bottom of the frame.

The Bears scored their final two runs in the eighth on a two-run single by shortstop Jordan Getchell after two Demon fielding errors led to the unearned runs.

Lyles finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a double and a run scored while O’Neal finished 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.

UCA starting pitcher Jeremy Cloud (4-5) took the loss after he gave up nine runs on 12 hits in 6-1/3 innings pitched.