FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Northwestern State pitcher Mikayla Brown shined in relief as the Lady Demons mustered late offense Thursday, but the push wasn't enough to overcome Arkansas' early momentum as the No. 14 Hogs took an 8-2 win to start the Wooo Pig Classic.

The Hogs (12-3) scored seven first-inning runs to build an insurmountable lead before NSU gained traction in the later innings.

"We didn't come out ready to play," said NSU coach Donald Pickett of a team that traveled seven hours from Natchitoches on Thursday to play in a tournament that was pushed up a day because of weather. "We made a couple of defensive mistakes early, and we weren't sharp on the mound to start with.

"We did get better offensively, and we got some quality innings from Brown, we have to put a complete game together. We can't start playing in the second or third inning."

Thursday's scheduled second game against Omaha was pushed to Saturday, and the Lady Demons (8-7) will still play Boston (6-3) on Friday at 10 a.m. before finishing the day with Nevada at 2:30 p.m.

Down 8-0 in the third inning and with the bases loaded, Brown entered and struck out two Hogs to end the threat.

Brown tossed 3 2/3 scoreless relief innings with just one hit allowed and four strikeouts.

"Brown pitched really well, and she kept them off-balanced so they couldn't really square a ball up," Pickett said. "She really only let one player on with a walk, and she did a good job of coming in and shutting them down for the remainder of the game."

Starter Samantha Guile (2-4) received the loss with seven runs allowed (six earned) on six hits.

Arkansas set the stage for the quick start with four consecutive singles to score a run before Kayla Green hit a grand slam for a 5-0 edge, all before NSU recorded an out. A Maggie Hicks RBI double and a run scored on an error accounted for the Hogs' other two first-inning runs.

NSU reliever Bronte Rhoden recorded three straight outs and escaped a bases-loaded situation in the second inning before running into trouble that led to Arkansas' 8-0 lead in the third inning. Rhoden finished with one run on three hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings.

Cayla Jones ended Arkansas starter Autumn Storms' shutout with a two-run home run in the fifth inning, her third of the season.

Jones, who has the team lead in homers, also scored Elise Vincent, who drew a walk. NSU sliced Arkansas' lead to 8-2 but couldn't cause further damage. Jones recorded two of NSU's four hits.

Storms (6-0) allowed two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts in the win.

NSU put Storms on shaky ground in the fourth inning when the Lady Demons loaded the bases with singles by Jones and Codi Vernace and a fielder's choice by Riley Cantrell.

But Storms posted the final two outs on strikeouts.

NSU's other hit came from Hayley Barbazon, who singled in the third inning.