Demon Baseball History

Northwestern State Demon Baseball 2020 DEMON BASEBALL... A HIT SINCE 1912 All-Americans. Conference championships. NCAA Regional appearances. All of the above have been part of the tradition that is Northwestern State baseball, a program that has made its share of headlines and memories in the last eight decades.

NSU’s baseball tradition dates to 1912, when the first incarnation of the Louisiana Normal nine won 7 of its 11 games. With the exception of a 18-year gap from 1930-1948, the diamond Demons have written a legacy of success for the better part of a century.

Individual accomplishments have blended into team success, creating a program that has enjoyed a run as one of the best in the Southland Conference in the last three decades.

Numerous All-Americans have donned the Purple and White, beginning with Danny Turner in 1967 when the Demons competed at the NAIA level. Darryl Woods bridged the gap between the NCAA and NAIA eras, earning All-American honors after belting a school-record 19 home runs.

Outfielder Terry Joseph was a two-time Academic All-American (1993, 1995) and ranks 9th in career batting average. Pitcher Reggie Gatewood was named a second-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 1994 after posting an 11-3 record and a 2.14 ERA. Shortstop Ryan Anholt earned third-team All-American honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association in 1998 when he batted .417 with 15 home runs and 71 RBIs in his junior season.

In recent years, pitcher Adam Oller (2016 ABCA, Collegiate Baseball) and first baseman/catcher David Fry (2018 Collegiate Baseball) have added to the Demons’ All-American legacy. Three Demons pitchers have earned Freshman All-American honors – Kyle Broughton and Dereck Cloeren in 2005 and Oller in 2014.

One of the most decorated runs in NSU baseball history began with its entrance into the Southland Conference, a league the Demons have called home for the past 31 seasons.

In that time, the Demons have accumulated 53 first-team All-Southland Conference selections, eight Coach of the Year awards, five Pitcher of the Year honors, five Player of the Year nods, two Hitter of the Year awardees, nine Newcomer or Freshman of the Year winners and one Relief Pitcher of the Year.

As a team, the Demons have captured 10 conference championships. Included in that grouping is a run of three straight SLC titles (1993-95) that has been accomplished by just two other Southland schoold.

In 1991, coach Jim Wells’ Demons earned the first NCAA Regional berth in school history and were placed in the NCAA South II Regional in Baton Rouge. The Demons fell to eventual national champion LSU, 11-2, and were edged by UL Lafayette, 11-7.

Three years later, Wells’ Demons earned another at-large bid and were placed in the Midwest I Regional in Stillwater, Okla. After dropping the opener to perennial national power Cal State Fullerton, 11-3, NSU earned its first NCAA Regional victory, as Gatewood overpowered Illinois State, 8-2. NSU fell to Memphis, 14-9, ending its season with a school-record 45 victories.

Wells’ success led him to become the head coach at Alabama, ushering in a flood of NSU coaches who took control of Southeastern Conference programs. Currently, former NSU coaches are head coaches at Arkansas (Dave Van Horn), Mississippi State (John Cohen), Ole Miss (Mike Bianco) and Texas A&M (Rob Childress).

The Demons’ decade of dominance continued in 1996 with two wins at eventual national champion LSU. Two years later, NSU notched its sixth Southland title and fourth 40-win season of the 1990s.

NSU closed the decade with a 38-21 campaign in 1999. Included in that season were wins against LSU and UCLA. The Demons closed the decade with a .658 winning percentage, which ranked 23rd in the nation.

The 2000s brought continued success with a seventh Southland title in 2001. That season, NSU defeated LSU, 10-8, in front of a record crowd of 4,214 screaming Demons fans at Brown-Stroud Field. NSU repeated as Southland champions in 2002, winning 43 games in Gaspard’s first season. The Demons cracked the national top 25 for the first time in school history, reaching No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

NSU’s 2005 season was simply overpowering, as the Demons racked up 22 Southland wins and won the conference by five games, the largest margin in Southland history. NSU earned the third NCAA Regional trip in school history, traveling to Baton Rouge where it fell to nationally ranked Rice, 7-3, in its opening game before recovering to beat Marist, 4-3. NSU fell to state rival LSU, 12-4, in its next regional game.

In 2010, NSU tied its school record for conference wins with 22 and added victories against nationally ranked Southern Mississippi and Texas A&M. Four Demons earned first-team All-Southland Conference honors and the conference named Chad Sheppard its Relief Pitcher of the Year.

The next three seasons were uncharacteristically trying for the Demons, who nevertheless had three players drafted in 2012, including second-round pick Mason Melotakis (Minnesota).

The hiring of Lane Burroughs, a Mississippi State assistant under Cohen, signaled a return to form for the Demons program. After going 16-40 in his first season, Burroughs engineered a remarkable turnaround, winning 17 more games in his second season. NSU also authored the largest single-season turnaround in Southland Conference history, increasing its conference win total from 5 to 19.

The follow-up season included another improvement as NSU bumped its winning percentage from .559 to .574 and saw outfielder Cort Brinson earn Southland Conference Hitter and Student-Athlete of the Year honors.

In 2016, Oller was one of three Demons drafted (Nick Heath, Daniel Garner) from an NSU team that won its final 10 Southland Conference games of the year, setting a school record for consecutive conference victories, one that remains active entering the 2017 season.

Former NSU Academic All-American Bobby Barbier took the reins of his alma mater’s program prior to 2017 and began putting his stamp on the program. A tough 2017 season as a team had its highlights, including Fry’s ABCA First-Team All-South Central Region selection.

A year later, Barbier’s charges did what no other Demons team ever accomplished —winning the Southland Conference Tournament championship. NSU swept the event in four straight games behind an MVP performance from Fry and advanced to the Corvallis Regional where it went 1-2, notching the program’s first NCAA Regional shutout, a 9-0 blanking of San Diego State.

Fry was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year and All-Louisiana Hitter of the Year while pitcher Jerry Maddox earned Southland and All-Louisiana Newcomer of the Year honors. Barbier picked up Southland and All-Louisiana Coach of the Year acclaim as well as the ABCA Central Region Coach of the Year award. In June, Fry (7th round, Milwaukee) and outfielder Kwan Adkins (30th round, San Francisco) became Major League Baseball draftees. NSU ALL-TIME BASEBALL RESULTS YEAR RECORD PCT. CONF. REC. FINISH COACH 1912 7-4 .636 C.C. Stroud 1916 LIAA Second C.C. Stroud 1921 3-14 .176 C.C. Stroud 1927 9-5 .643 C.C. Stroud 1928 7-9-3 .447 C.C. Stroud 1929 8-7-1 .531 C.C. Stroud 1930 .500 C.C. Stroud 1931 No Games 1949 12-9 .571 7-6 Third H. Alvin Brown 1950 9-9 .500 7-7 Fifth H. Alvin Brown 1951 6-10 .375 6-10 Sixth H. Alvin Brown 1952 13-11 .542 10-6 Third H. Alvin Brown 1953 N/A 4-3-1 Third H. Alvin Brown 1954 N/A N/A H. Alvin Brown 1955 10-9 .526 5-7 Fifth H. Alvin Brown 1956 15-7 .682 8-4 Second H. Alvin Brown 1957 17-8 .680 10-5 FIRST H. ALVIN BROWN 1958 13-11 .542 8-7 Second H. Alvin Brown 1959 14-17-2 .452 8-6-1 Third H. Alvin Brown 1960 13-13 .500 7-7 Third H. Alvin Brown 1961 6-23-1 .207 2-18 Sixth H. Alvin Brown 1962 8-21 .276 3-14 Sixth H. Alvin Brown 1963 10-12 .455 7-11 Sixth H. Alvin Brown 1964 17-15 .531 10-9 Fourth H. Alvin Brown 1965 20-11 .645 13-7 Second H. Alvin Brown 1966 16-17-1 .485 11-10-1 Fourth H. Alvin Brown 1967 23-11 .676 18-8 FIRST JACK CLAYTON 1968 19-11-3 .633 12-8-2 Second Jack Clayton 1969 9-25 .265 5-17 Seventh Herbie Smith 1970 10-24 .294 3-19 Seventh Herbie Smith 1971 17-29 .369 11-14 Fifth Herbie Smith 1972 16-24 .400 Independent - Herbie Smith 1973 22-13 .629 8-6 Third Herbie Smith 1974 23-20 .535 10-6 Third Herbie Smith 1975 16-26 .381 4-12 Ninth Herbie Smith 1976 13-24-1 .351 Independent - Herbie Smith 1977 16-30 .348 Independent - Herbie Smith 1978 31-29 .517 Independent - Herbie Smith 1979 20-29-1 .408 Independent - Herbie Smith 1980 23-23 .500 Independent - Herbie Smith 1981 16-42 .276 TAAC 2-12 Eighth Herbie Smith 1982 18-26 .409 TAAC 7-5 FIRST HERBIE SMITH 1983 26-30 .464 N/A Fourth Herbie Smith 1984 17-45 .274 TAAC 7-17 Fifth Herbie Smith 1985 19-34 .358 GSC 5-14 Fifth Herbie Smith 1986 15-35 .300 GSC 3-15 Sixth Herbie Smith 1987 14-37 .275 GSC 2-18 Seventh J. Emmons 1988 23-28 .451 SLC 9-12 Sixth J. Emmons 1989 21-28-1 .430 SLC 7-10 Sixth J. Emmons 1990 38-13 .745 SLC 9-9 Fifth Jim Wells 1991 40-21 .656 SLC 13-5 FIRST JIM WELLS 1992 29-26 .527 SLC 8-13 Seventh Jim Wells 1993 40-14 .741 SLC 18-6 FIRST JIM WELLS 1994 45-15 .750 SLC 16-5 FIRST JIM WELLS 1995 37-15 .711 SLC 19-5 FIRST DAVE VAN HORN 1996 34-27 .557 SLC 14-16 *Second Dave Van Horn 1997 35-23 .603 SLC 19-9 *FIRST DAVE VAN HORN 1998 40-20 .667 SLC 15-8 FIRST JOHN COHEN 1999 38-21 .644 SLC 18-9 Second John Cohen 2000 30-26 .535 SLC 14-13 Fifth John Cohen 2001 38-17 .691 SLC 19-8 FIRST JOHN COHEN 2002 43-17 .717 SLC 14-10 FIRST MITCH GASPARD 2003 35-22 .614 SLC 16-11 Fourth Mitch Gaspard 2004 33-23 .589 SLC 16-9 Second Mitch Gaspard 2005 41-20 .672 SLC 22-5 FIRST MITCH GASPARD 2006 33-28 .541 SLC 15-15 Sixth Mitch Gaspard 2007 25-28 .472 SLC 15-14 Seventh Mitch Gaspard 2008 28-28 .500 SLC 17-12 Fifth Jon Paul Davis 2009 26-26 .500 SLC 18-13 Sixth Jon Paul Davis 2010 36-21 .632 SLC 22-10 Second Jon Paul Davis 2011 22-32 .407 SLC 11-21 Twelfth Jon Paul Davis 2012 19-32 .373 SLC 13-13 Tenth Jon Paul Davis 2013 16-40 .286 SLC 5-22 Tenth Lane Burroughs 2014 33-26 .559 SLC 19-11 Third Lane Burroughs 2015 31-23 .574 SLC 20-8 Second Lane Burroughs 2016 33-24 .579 SLC 20-10 Third Lane Burroughs 2017 20-34 .370 SLC 10-20 Eleventh Bobby Barbier 2018 38-24 .613 SLC 18-12 Third Bobby Barbier 2019 30-25 .545 SLC 15-15 Seventh Bobby Barbier Total 1626-1536-14 .514 675-646-5 .511 * - Louisiana Division of SLC ALL-TIME DEMON COACHING RECORDS Dr. C.C. Stroud 1911-48 34-39-4 .467 H. Alvin Brown 1949-66 198-205-4 .491 Jack Clayton 1967-68 42-22-3 .656 Herbie Smith 1969-86 327-508-2 .392 Johnnie Emmons 1987-89 58-93-1 .385 Jim Wells 1990-94 192-89 .683 Dave Van Horn 1995-97 106-65 .620 John Cohen 1998-01 146-84 .635 Mitch Gaspard 2002-07 210-138 .603 Jon Paul Davis 2008-12 131-139 .485 Lane Burroughs 2013-16 113-113 .500 Bobby Barbier 2017-present 88-83 .515