CORPUS CHRISTI – Northwestern State’s four-run, eighth inning rally to give it a 4-3 lead was short lived as Texas-San Antonio scored two in the bottom of the ninth to take a 5-4 win over the Demons in the first round of the 2009 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament.

The loss means the Demons (26-25) will play at 9 a.m. on Thursday in an elimination game against No. 2 seed Southeastern Louisiana, a 9-2 loser to Sam Houston State Wednesday afternoon.

UTSA (32-22) will play Sam Houston State at 4 on Thursday in a winner's bracket game.

“It was an interesting game,” said NSU head coach J.P. Davis.  “All the little things counted.  We were really in trouble all day long.”

Demon starting pitcher Ryan Zimmerman gave up two runs on three hits in six innings, but he walked seven and hit a batter.  Kyle Broughton relieved Zimmerman in the seventh with the Demons trailing 1-0, but with a runner on base, Broughton gave up a two-run home run to UTSA’s Jose Hernandez to give the Roadrunners a 3-0 lead.

And after the Demons grabbed a 4-3 lead and took that into the ninth, closer Chad Sheppard gave up an inning-leading double followed by a sacrifice bunt, single, walk, and game-winning single.

In all, the Demons allowed 13 free passes to UTSA – 11 walks and two hit batters.  UTSA also left 13 runners on base.

“Zimmerman really did a nice job pitching out of trouble,” said Davis.  “But he was in trouble all day long.

“Offensively, we didn’t adjust early.  They were throwing breaking balls down and away, and we just didn’t adjust.  We managed to battle back after giving up the home run.  But that team is a very good hitting team.  They hit mistakes, there’s no doubt about it.”

UTSA outhit the Demons 8-to-6 in the contest as a 1-0 Roadrunner lead went to 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh after Hernandez’s two-run blast.

In the NSU eighth, Colin Bear led off the inning with a walk and Eric DeBlanc, who finished 2-for-4, singled to put runners at first and second.  Jordan Nipp flied out for the first out of the inning and Trevor Geist hit a pinch-hit single, his first hit of the season, to load the bases.

Dan Meyer (1-for-3 with two RBIs) followed with a two-run double to put the Demons on the board and cut the lead to 3-2.  And after Beau Snodgrass went down swinging for the second out of the inning, Chase Lyles, who was 1-for-4 with two RBIs, worked an 0-2 count full, then punched a two-run single over the third baseman’s head to give the Demons the lead.

“We got those first two guys on then got a good pinch hit from Geist,” said Davis.  “He hasn’t had a hit all year so he was due.  He’s got the ability to split the gap and he came through for us.  Dan (Meyer) then got a big hit for us, and Lyles, as he has done a lot here lately, he’s been white-hot, and he came up with a big hit.”

“I had the left-handed pitcher and he had been throwing a lot of fast balls inside,” said Lyles.  “He pretty much stuck with it the whole time.  He made a lot of good pitches, hard inside.  He went to the breaking ball once and I got it to a full count.  After that, he put a little bit of it over the plate and I was lucky enough to get a little air under it to get it down the line.”

UTSA designated hitter Brett Aguilar led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to left-center, and a sacrifice bunt from Lance Brown moved Aguilar, the tying run, to third.  Catcher Ryan Rummel tied the game with a single through the left side, and after a passed ball by Demon catcher Garrett Vaughan advanced Rummel to second, Casey Selsor walked to put runners at first and second.

Gilbert Saenz flied out to right field for the second out of the inning but pinch hitter Tyler Carpenter singled to right to score the game-winning run.

Sheppard (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season after he gave up two runs on three hits in 1-2/3 innings pitched.  He struck out two batters and walked three.

UTSA reliever Matt Crocker (6-1) got the win after he did not allow a run in 1-2/3 innings and gave up one hit.