NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State softball team advanced out of Southland Conference Tournament single-elimination play with a 4-0 win against Lamar on Tuesday at Lady Demon Diamond.

The Lady Demons (29-25) will take on No. 3 seed McNeese (28-28) in the final game today and are now in the double-elimination portion of the bracket.

Sophomore pitcher E.C. Delafield (10-3) threw her first career shutout with a two-hitter, also her first SLC Tournament win.

"We came out really confident in E.C., and she came out and threw a great game," said NSU coach Donald Pickett.  "We had good at-bats, made plays on defense and never really let them have the momentum at all.

"We got runners on ahead of Cayla Jones, and she's a great hitter even with two strikes, and she got a pitch she could drive out."

Delafield issued zero walks, hit one batter and struck out three in the dominant performance.

The Stonewall native, who was voted All-SLC first-team utility, didn't allow a Lamar runner in scoring position and didn't allow a hit after the third inning.

"I was just spinning my pitches, and my defense definitely had my back today. They made some awesome plays," Delafield said. "This is postseason play at home, and we're determined to protect this field and have just that one home loss (in SLC play) this season."

After Lamar freshman pitcher Aaliyah Ruiz recorded two wins against NSU in the regular season series, the Lady Demons had success against Ruiz in her four innings.

Sophomore Cayla Jones hammered a three-run home run in the third inning to boost NSU to a 3-0 lead. Freshman Maggie Black and junior Elise Vincent each laid down bunt singles to set the table for Jones.

"It wouldn't have been anything without Maggie and Elise getting on ahead of me," said Jones, who was voted to the All-SLC Second Team as a second baseman. "It's what I practice for and what I was raised for.

"We took care of all three phases of the game, and when that happens, we're really tough to beat. . E.C. pitched a great game today, and we came out to win.

The home run was Jones' ninth of the season and her 10^th multi-RBI game. Jones has five games of at least three RBIs. Jones went 1-for-2 with walk.

Junior Kaitlyn St. Clair added an RBI single in the sixth inning for NSU's final run. She scored pinch runner Kayla Roquemore, who subbed in after an Alexis Perry double.

St. Clair went 2-for-3 as NSU made its seven hits impactful.

The Lady Demons won their second straight single-elimination tournament game in as many seasons. NSU topped Abilene Christian in the SLC Tournament this past season in the opening round.

The tournament, which brings seven teams and their fan bases to Natchitoches for several days, is supported by the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission and the Natchitoches Convention and Tourism Bureau.