HAMMOND, La, — A wild Saturday in the Hammond Bracket saw two incredible late-game rallies and one team emerge as the winner from the weekend. No. 8. New Orleans watched as No. 4 Northwestern State erase a multiple-run deficit against top-seeded Southeastern in Game 5 before doing the same to the Demons with a 12-11 victory that punched their ticket to the Southland Conference Championship Series.
The Privateers will face No. 6 HCU, the winner from the Edinburg bracket in that series set to begin this week at Husky Field. This is New Orleans first appearance in the conference title since 2023 when they lost the championship game to No. 1 Nicholls.
Northwestern State came into Saturday evening's game having used a seven-run eighth inning to overcome an 8-4 deficit to beat the regular season champion Lions. The Demons picked up right where they left off hours before when Sebastian Huerta drilled in an RBI single to give them a 1-0 lead in the second.
They poured it on in the third, adding five more runs. NSU initially plated two and had two on base, setting up Brooks Leonard who crushed his first home run of the season. That gave the Demons a commanding 6-0 lead.
New Orleans countered in the top of the fourth when Bryce Calloway stepped to the dish and sent one out to center field for his fourth home run of the tournament. That cut the deficit to a 6-2 margin. But the Demons would not relent.
Moving to the sixth inning, NSU saw Sam Stephenson and Balin Valentine send out homers on consecutive pitches, vaulting the Demon lead back to a six-run margin at 8-2. NSU managed the Privateers through seven innings, but they were in for a furious rally once the eighth inning began.
The Privateer bats came to life. Alexander Saunier set the table with an RBI single that made it 8-3 before Tristan Moore dealt a lethal blow in the fashion of a bases-clearing double that snuck down the right field line, bringing the score to 8-6. Bryan Loriga then dug in for a two-run pump and suddenly the game was tied 8-8.
The resilient Demons managed to take the leadafter a bases loaded balk brought in a run and set up a ninth inning 9-8 advantage. But the game would not settle from that point. Calloway drove in the go-ahead run on a single that got through the left side before Moore and Diego Villescas brought in the final runs needed for some cushion heading into the bottom of the frame.
NSU threatened with two more runs that crossed the plate, but Calloway stepped up on the mound, delivering the strikeout that sealed the Privateers' victory.