EDINBURG, Texas (Interstat) — Northwestern State jumped to an early lead and held on for a 6-5 victory over Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Thursday afternoon in Southland Conference play.

The Demons (26-24) scored four runs in the first inning, highlighted by Ethan Menard’s RBI single and J.T. Simonelli’s RBI double. Sam Ardoin added a two-run homer in the second, and Menard drove in another run later that inning to make it 6-2. The Vaqueros (25-28) chipped away, scoring twice in the third on a two-run single by Ramirez and adding a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly, but could not complete the comeback.

Jacob LeBlanc earned top-star honors, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, allowing no hits. Colton Vercoe took the loss for UTRGV, going 5.1 innings with five strikeouts. Armani Raygoza went 3-for-3 with an RBI for the Vaqueros.

Northwestern State outhit Texas-Rio Grande Valley 13-9 and has now won four consecutive meetings against the Vaqueros this season.