NATCHITOCHES – Timely hits and stellar pitching carried Northwestern State to a pair of wins Friday against Lamar to open Southland Conference play.

NSU scored eight of its 11 total runs in the sixth innings of the games en route to wins of 4-2 and 7-2.

The Lady Demons (14-7, 2-0 SLC) will attempt to sweep Lamar (11-11, 0-2 SLC) in Saturday's finale at 4 p.m. The game time has been moved back because of expected inclement weather.

NSU hasn't recorded a sweep since late 2015 against Stephen F. Austin. Lamar entered Friday having won the last five meetings and six of the last seven.

"(Micaela Bouvier and Mikayla Brown) set the tone, and we need them as upperclassmen to go out there and be consistent for us like they can be," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "They had a couple of walks that they would like to have back, and Lamar put some pressure on us, but they dominated for the most part.

"They let our offense stay in the game until we could make the adjustments to score. We got timely hits, and if you can get good pitching and timely hits, you have a good chance to win ball games."

Lamar starter Laura Napoli (4-6) takes the loss with four runs on six hits in 5 1-3 innings.

NSU 7, Lamar 2

Sophomore Emma Hawthorne's first career grand slam formed the cornerstone of NSU's five runs in the sixth inning, which broke a 2-2 tie.

Hawthorne's high fly ball carried over the outstretched arm of leftfielder Kendall Talley, sending the Lady Demon dugout into a frenzy as NSU added extra padding to its one-run lead.

"It was just a great feeling to help the team and get us up a few runs so the pitchers could relax," Hawthorne said. "They did a really good job of keeping us in both games.

"I was a little worried after hitting it because it was kind of high, and I saw the left fielder take off running, and I thought 'Oh no,' but it went over."

The home run is Hawthorne's first of the season and NSU's second grand slam of the year (Sidney Harris vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff).

Sophomore Madelyn Matt started the inning with a triple and scored on a Cayla Jones RBI single to tie the game, 2-2.

Then a hit-by-pitch and catcher's interference loaded the bases, and Hawthorne delivered one batter later.

The offense was more than enough to support Mikayla Brown's arguably best outing of the season.

Brown (5-2) struck out a career-high 10 batters and held Lamar to just two runs on four hits.

Her final strikeout ended the game, and Brown ended six of her seven inning with strikeouts.

"I felt really good, and it's awesome to be able to pitch like that," Brown said. "We brought the fight today, and we knew Lamar is a tough team in our conference.

"We've won the series, but we're not settling. We'll come out here and fight (Saturday)."

Lamar collected two of its four hits in the second inning, resulting in a Kendall Talley RBI single for a 1-0 edge.

A fifth-inning Lamar walk turned into a Shannon Klaus sacrifice fly RBI to retie the game at 2-2.

NSU pushed across two runs in the fourth inning courtesy of a Hayley Barbazon single RBI to score Sidney Harris (1-for-1 and reached base three times). Julie Rawls (singled) scored on a wild pitch for a 2-1 edge.

The other five runs came in NSU's monster inning as the Lady Demons made the most of their six hits, two free bases and one error.
 
NSU 4, Lamar 2

Senior pitcher Micaela Bouvier kicked the night off right by dancing around eight hits and five walks in her fourth straight win.

Bouvier (6-1) stranded 10 Lamar runners and dodged trouble with the help of eight strikeouts.

After Cayla Jones (2-for-3, three RBIs) doubled in Sidney Salmans for a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Bouvier managed to limit Lamar to an RBI walk with the bases loaded and one out.

Bouvier stranded three runners again in the fourth inning, leaving six of Lamar's 10 runners in scoring position.

The Santa Fe, Texas, native is 4-0 in her last five starts with wins against Lamar, two over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and one against Prairie View A&M.

Lamar snatched a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning on a Savana Guidry RBI single.

But NSU responded with three sixth-inning runs.

After a Madelyn Matt walk put NSU's first base runner on board since the second inning, Jones crushed a two-run home run, her fourth of the season.

"It's always great to deliver for girls who I know have my back," Jones said. "I know they will keep it going.

"We put our minds to what we wanted to do, and we showed it today."

Sophomore Julie Rawls followed with a towering solo home run against the wind, her third of the season, to give NSU a 4-2 edge.

NSU sticks Lamar's Taylor Gruell with the loss after Gruell allowed four runs on five hits in five innings.