NATCHITOCHES – Louisiana-Lafayette’s Matt Hicks doubled to lead off the top of the 11th-inning, then scored on a single from Tyler Benzel to break a 6-6 tie as the Ragin Cajuns defeated Northwestern State, 7-6, on Wednesday.

The Demons (13-10) dropped their second straight game while the Cajuns (10-12) won for the fourth consecutive time.

NSU’s Kyle Broughton (2-2) took the loss after throwing the 11th-inning, giving up one run on two hits with a strikeout.  But the bullpen work of Broughton, J.C. Bredengerd, and Beau Snodgrass pitched well enough to give the Demons a chance to win.

“Overall, I thought our bullpen did well,” said NSU head coach J.P. Davis.  “I thought Broughton worked his way out of a tough jam in the 11th-inning, and I know we’ve found another hard worker in Snodgrass out of the bullpen.”

The trio threw 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts.

Buddy Glass, ULL’s fifth pitcher of the night, evened his record at 1-1 after throwing two innings and giving up no runs and two hits with three strikeouts.  Justin Robichaux earned his sixth save of the season after getting the Demons out in order in the bottom of the 11th-inning.

The Demons finished with 14 hits but left 11 runners on base.

“Offensively, we need to do a better job of our situational hitting,” said Davis.  “We’re getting hits, but we’re not getting them when we need to drive in runs.”

First baseman Justin O’Neal and catcher Anthony Jones each finished 3 for 6 from the plate while leftfielder Jordan Nipp and centerfielder Dylan Libadisos had two hits apiece.

ULL got on the board first on a solo home run from Scott Hawkins in the top of the first inning.

The Demons scored three in the bottom of the second on RBI singles from Brett Johnson and Chase Lyles and a RBI triple from Nipp.

The Ragin Cajuns retook the lead in the fourth with three runs then went up 6-3 with two more runs in the fifth.

O’Neal scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-4 then Nipp’s grounder in the eighth scored Libadisos while Denney Choate scored on a throwing error by ULL’s Hicks to tie the game at 6-all.

Benzel led the Cajuns at the plate with a 3 for 5 showing with two RBIs as ULL finished the game with 11 hits.

The Demons return to Southland Conference play on Friday when they open a three-game series at Stephen F. Austin.

“We just need to regroup and get ready for the weekend,” said Davis.  “It’s very important for us to go out and get an aggressive start against SFA.”