LAKE CHARLES, La. – The sixth seed Northwestern State Lady Demons conceded a lead in the seventh inning, then launched six hits in the eighth inning for six runs on the way to an 8-2 win over third seed Nicholls in the final opening round game of the 2023 Southland Conference Softball Championship.
 
Northwestern State moves to 25-25 overall on the season and will face second seed Southeastern in a winners’ bracket game at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Nicholls is now 27-23 and will take on seventh seed HCU in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
 
The Lady Demons held a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning thanks to an RBI groundout by Ford in the second inning and a Kat Marshall RBI single in the third inning. NSU pitcher Maggie Darr carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and took the shutout into the seventh inning before Nicholls’ offense tied the game up in the final regulation inning.
 
Erin Krause led off with a double and Alexa Poche’ brought her home with her own double. After a pinch runner stole third, an error plated that runner to tie up the game and send the game into extra innings.
 
The Lady Demon offense immediately responded with authority. Marshall smashed a homer over the left field scoreboard to lead the inning off, followed by consecutive RBI triples from Laney Roos and Tristin Court. Camryn Ford scored a run with an RBI single and Marshall brought two more runs home with a double, which made the game 8-2 in NSU’s favor.
 
The Colonels’ first two batters reached in the bottom of the eighth, but reliever Kenzie Seely sat down the next three batters to give Northwestern State the win.
 
For Northwestern State, Darr allowed two runs – one earned – on three hits in 6.0 innings with four strikeouts. Seely pitched 2.0 innings of scoreless relief, with two strikeouts and one hit. Marshall went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, while Bailie Ragsdale also had three hits.
 
For Nicholls, three of the Colonels’ four hits were double. Molly Yoo was tagged with the loss, allowing three earned runs in 4.0 innings of relief.