And then there were five.

With four games left in the regular season, a fist full of teams are tied for the Southland Conference lead.

For a second consecutive night the Cowboys, playing at home, blew a chance to separate themselves from the field. What remains is a wide-open scramble to the finish.

Northwestern State earned itself a share of first place with a 5-4 victory in 10 innings over McNeese State Saturday night at Joe Miller Ballpark.

The Demons (22-23) improved 11-9 in SLC play despite not getting a hit from the fifth until the 10th.

Also tied for the lead are Southeastern Louisiana, Houston Baptist and Nicholls State.

Bo Willis’ sacrifice fly to left in the top of the 10th off Cameron Foster was the winning run and left the league a mess. Foster (3-2) hurt himself by throwing a wild pitch to move Jeff Elkins to third with one out.

Andrew Cossio (2-0) and Jacob Farrell got his first save.

McNeese (26-21, 11-9) tied the score in the eighth with a run thanks to help from the Demons. Julian Gonzales scored on a wild pitch.

But the Cowboys had plenty of chances to win, leaving 10 on base, eight over the last six innings.

Jake Haze’s sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh broke a 3-3 tie. The Cowboys had a chance to grab the lead back in the seventh, loading the bases with two out. But Brad Burckel struck out on a 3-2 pitch from left-hander Tyler Cameron.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first on an unearned run, the Cowboys took the lead on Burckel’s seventh home run of the season. His two-run shot scored Braden Duhon, who led off the bottom of the inning with a single.

Gabe Colaianni gave the Demons the lead back with a two-run shot in the third. It was Colaianni’s second homer of the season and sixth for the Demons over the first two games of the series.

McNeese responded in the fourth on Josh Leslie’s solo shot, his fourth, to lead off the inning and tie the score at 3-3.

NOTES: McNeese center fielder Payton Harden missed Saturday’s game after being injured while running into the wall the night before. He is in concussion protocol and not expected to play in today’s finale, Cowboys head coach Justin Hill said.