First baseman Daniel Nottebart singled to left center field to bring in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Sam Houston State defeated Northwestern State 3-2 in the first contest of a three-game Southland Conference baseball series.

Bearkat senior right-hander Matt Shelton (4-0) gave up two runs in the top of the first inning but shut out the Demons for the next six innings, giving up only four hits while facing 30 batters. Shelton struck out eight Northwestern State batters.

Junior Michael Oros earned his second save of the season, retiring six straight batters in the eighth and ninth innings. Starter Luke Irvine (3-3) took the loss for the Demons.

Sam Houston ended a two-game losing streak, upping its season record to 18-10 and evening its league mark at 5-5. Northwestern State dropped to 8-18 for the year and 2-8 in Southland action.

The Demons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by left fielder Colin Bear and a run-scoring ground out by second baseman Chris Hebert.

Sam Houston tied the game 2-2 with runs in both the first and second.  Center fielder Mark Hudson's single to center field scored second baseman Ryan Mooney after he singled with one out in the first. Catcher Doug Oney's doubled to left scored third baseman Kevin Miller who walked to lead off the second.

Sam Houston and Northwestern State will meet in the second game of the series at 2 p.m. Saturday at Don Sanders Stadium.

After four-and-a-half consecutive scoreless innings, designated hitter Chris Andreas got things going with a one-out walk. Two wild pitches moved Andreas to third base to set up first baseman Daniel Nottebart's RBI single to right center field.