Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Throwing one shutout is hard enough, but when a pitcher faces the same team on consecutive days, a second shutout is pretty rare.

But Northwestern State junior Shelby Sells fended off Murray State in a 1-0 win Sunday – her fourth career shutout and her first consecutive shutouts.

Sells struck out a season-high eight Racers (4-5) and scattered four hits and a walk. On Saturday, Sells worked around five hits and two walks in a 5-0 win.

"It's really tough when (opposing) batters see you three times the night before, and then to come back out and do it again (today) is difficult," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "Strikeouts and pop outs were huge for us today, and Sells didn't panic when Murray State put runners on.

"She kept making pitches and trusting them. She looked fresh and did what we needed her to do. We got her only one run today, and she really won that ball game for us by putting zeroes on the board."

On Sunday, Murray State threatened in several innings, but none like the fifth inning. The Racers led off with a single and a double to put runners on second and third base, but Sells sandwiched a ground out between two strikeouts to keep Murray State off the scoreboard.

In the seventh inning, Murray State recorded a two-out double to put the tying run in scoring position, but Sells notched her final strikeout to end the game.

"It's really hard to stay focused the whole time, but I wanted to keep the balls moving, hit my spots and make sure the pitches were where they needed to be to get an out," Sells said. "It's stressful in a tight ball game, but my team happened to get that one run and I was the other side to that equation for the win.

"(The fifth inning) was stressful, but I had to relax and take a deep breath. (NSU assistant Amy Hooks) was calling the pitches she thought would work, and that's how we got out of it."

Junior Kellye Kincannon supplied NSU's (11-4) only run in the third inning with an RBI-double. Sophomore Sidney Salmans, who moved back into the leadoff role Sunday after starting the season at the top, hit a one-out double and scored from third base two batters later.

Kincannon (2-for-2 with a walk) produced hits in all three weekend games, extending her hitting streak to nine games. She had multiple hits in five of those games and has hit safely in 12 of her first 15 games to bump her batting average to .468.

"I was just trying to keep things simple and get a base hit up the middle," Kincannon said. "I jammed myself a little bit, but the ball got into left field.

"As a lineup, we need to improve on pitch selection and know when to go opposite field or pull the ball. We did manufacture runs this weekend and proved we are able to do that."

NSU returns to the diamond at the end of next week with five games at Mississippi State's Bulldog Slamboree. The Bulldogs are the top team in the Top 25 receiving votes category in the latest polls.

The Lady Demons face Longwood (Friday, 1 p.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m.), Mississippi State (Friday, 8:30 p.m.), Chattanooga (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.) and Western Kentucky (Saturday, 6 p.m.).