Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Two jam packed innings and a stellar performance at the plate from senior Cheyenne DelaGarza allowed the Northwestern State softball team to defeat Southland Conference newcomer Incarnate Word 8-2 Saturday afternoon at the Lady Demon Diamond.
 
DelaGarza dished out a RBI-double, a single and a sacrifice fly to put up a 2-for-2 performance on the day and pick up two RBI en route to NSU's (20-19 overall, 10-9 SLC) series victory over the Cardinals (19-26, 5-10).
 
"This was a good win for us today, and something that we needed as the regular season starts to come to a close," said sixth-year head coach Donald Pickett. "We had some good performances at the plate from multiple hitters, and kept Incarnate Word from scoring in some big situations, which aided in the win."
 
The Lady Demons broke the game open in the second with four big runs. Freshman Kellye Kincannon kicked things off with a single to left field and later stole second during Brianna Rodriguez's at-bat. Rodriguez sent Kincannon home with a double to center, her fifth of the season, and 42^nd of her career.
 
DelaGarza was drawn up next and sent Rodriguez home as she notched her lone double of the day to left field, and advanced to third on the throw. Tara McKenney singled, also to left, to score DelaGarza. McKenney worked her way around the bases with a pair of steals, and scored on a throwing error from catcher Shelby Waltrip.
 
Freshman Brittney Jones tacked on a single run in the fourth when she led off the inning with a homer to left center, her sixth of the season.
 
The Lady Demons put the Cardinals at an arm's length in the fifth when they loaded up the bases with no outs early in the inning and Jones at the plate. The Bryan, Texas, native reached first on a fielder's choice and drove in a run, bring DelaGarza to the plate. During DelaGarza's at-bat, all three runners advanced a base off a UIW wild pitch, scoring one, followed by her sacrifice fly to right to score another.  
 
The Cardinals picked up single runs in the third and fourth, respectively, off two hits and two errors.
 
Senior Kaylee Guidry (9-3) threw a complete game, her second of the weekend, and allowed just two hits and two runs while striking out five.
 
Behind DelaGarza, Rodriguez went 2-for-3 and picked up one RBI, followed by Brittany Virgoe, also with a 2-for-3 outing.
 
Northwestern State will host a breast cancer awareness game on Wednesday at six o'clock against in-state rival Louisiana Tech, before hitting the road on Saturday for a three-game league series at Nicholls State.