CHATTANOOGA -- Northwestern State piled up 23 hits in Friday's doubleheader as the Lady Demons split on the opening day of Chattanooga's Frost Classic.
 
NSU (6-6-1) wacked Fairleigh Dickinson 11-3 in six innings before falling to Chattanooga 5-3 after stranding 11 runners.
 
The Lady Demons continue Saturday with Western Michigan at 10 a.m. and St. Louis at 3 p.m.
 
 
NSU 11, Fairleigh Dickinson 3 (6)
 
Ten different Northwestern State softball players recorded at least one hit as the Lady Demons rolled to a run-rule win.
 
NSU scored at least one run in every inning to support sophomore pitcher Katelyn Boles (3-2), who allowed three runs on four hits in six innings.
 
Senior Kellye Kincannon highlighted the offensive effort with a 2-for-4 performance and a game-high three RBIs.
 
Kincannon's two-run home run, her third of the season, was the cornerstone of a three-run first inning.
 
Fellow senior Micayla Sorosiak (two runs scored, two walks) added a solo home run, also her third of the season, in the first inning for a 3-0 lead.
 
FDU (0-6) cut NSU's lead to one run twice after a two-run second inning (Ana Hayes home run) and a Reanna Cervantes RBI single in the third inning (4-3 Lady Demons).
 
But NSU pulled away with three runs in the third inning en route to 13 overall hits.
 
Sophomore Kaylee Isenburg (2-for-3, run scored) singled in a run before Kaitlyn St. Clair (1-for-3, run scored) drove in two runs with a single for a 7-3 edge.
 
Senior Brittney Jones smashed her first home run of the season in the fourth inning for an 8-3 advantage. Her home run tied former teammate Natalie Landry (2013-16) for fourth on NSU's all-time list with 33.
 
After a Kincannon double pushed the lead to 9-3, senior Jordan Rains supplied her first RBI this season with a double.
 
Freshman Hayley Barbazon drew a bases-loaded walk to increase NSU's lead to 11-3, which evoked the run rule in the sixth inning.
 
Boles allowed three runs in the first innings, but she cruised through the final three innings with one hit and one walk. Her four strikeouts is a career high.
 

Chattanooga 5, NSU 3
 
Northwestern State couldn't take full advantage of three different innings with loaded bases, scoring just two runs in those scenarios.
 
Seven of the 11 stranded Lady Demons were left in scoring position as NSU stuffed the base paths on 10 hits, five walks and two Chattanooga errors.
 
"We have to have better approaches with runners on base, and we have to keep the ball in park (defensively)," said NSU coach Donald Pickett.
 
Senior Micayla Sorosiak extended her hitting streak to five games as she went 3-for-4. The Sugar Land, Texas, native singled in Sidney Salmans (1-for-2, two walks) to take a 1-0 lead.
 
NSU later loaded the bases but a Kaylee Isenburg double play ended the first inning.
 
Chattanooga (4-7) snatched a 3-1 lead with three runs in the bottom of the first, chasing starter Mikayla Brown (2-4) in the process. Ashley Conner (two home runs, three RBIs) hit a two-run home run before Jesslyn Stockard added an RBI single.
 
Reliever Micaela Bouvier recorded outs in nine of her first 10 at-bats and held Chattanooga scoreless until the fifth inning to keep NSU close.
 
Bouvier, making her longest appearance of the season as she recovers from an offseason shoulder injury, allowed two runs on five hits in 5 1-3 innings. She had pitched three innings combined in two starts.
 
Isenburg (1-for-4) singled in pinch runner Kayla Roquemore to slice the Mocs' lead to 3-2 in the fifth inning. But a Chattanooga outfielder turned a double play when she threw out Sorosiak at home plate to end that frame.
 
The Mocs stretched their lead to 5-2 with solo home runs from Conner in the fifth and Brook Womack in the sixth innings.
 
The Lady Demons loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning but mustered just an Emma Hawthorne sacrifice fly RBI (2-for-3).
 
Senior Brittney Jones continued to climb the career charts as her two walks moved her into a tie for third with Amy Grisham (1999-2002).
 
Freshman shortstop Toni Hebert left the game after colliding with a sliding base runner at second base. Hebert walked off mostly under her own power, and junior Hailee Rhodes (nearly 100 starts) finished the game.
 
Pickett, who coached at Chattanooga under long-time skipper Frank Reed, is now 1-1 against his former boss after topping the Mocs by one run in 2016.