Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State pitcher Mikayla Brown leapt into the air as her teammates sprinted out of the dugout following her game-ending strikeout Tuesday to top No. 3 seed McNeese in a 4-3 Southland Conference Tournament win.

The No. 6 seed Lady Demons (30-25) traded blows with the three-time defending SLC Tournament champion Cowgirls (28-29) all night, but it was Brown and the NSU defense that delivered the final blow.

"I just knew that I had to slow it down and calm down to get through those outs," said Brown, who rarely shows emotion in the circle. "I got pumped up because my teammates were behind me making great plays, but then I had to center myself.

"After that third out, I just let it all out."

The Lady Demons won both of its SLC Tournament games and will play No. 2 seed Nicholls (32-20) at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. With inclement weather expected to roll through Natchitoches, all tournament games have been moved up two hours.

"We kept telling them between innings – be tougher than them (McNeese)," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "McNeese made a couple of mistakes to give us a run, and we made a couple of mistakes that could have ended an inning without them scoring.

"Those first couple of innings weren't pretty, but we kept grinding and grinding."

Before Brown's strikeout in the seventh inning, the NSU defense turned in two of its best plays to keep McNeese off the base paths.

Freshman Riley Cantrell sprinted to field a Justyce McClain bunt and get the out after the speedy McClain had already reached on a bunt.

Sophomore second baseman Cayla Jones made a diving grab of a chopper, shuffling the ball with her off hand while still laying down for the second out.

Cantrell was one of two Lady Demons with multiple hits, and she produced a bases-loaded single in the sixth inning to tie the game 3-3. Freshman Maggie Black followed that with an RBI single of her own that handed the Lady Demons the lead for good.

"I was super excited, and then I knew Maggie was going to get on behind me," Cantrell said. "We have this thing that's 'Cantrell-Black' when I do well, she's going to do well.

"I was super happy that we could have Brown's back because she pitched one of the best games I've seen. It was such an intense game, and it's one of those games you always want to play."

The two-run sixth started with E.C. Delafield (2-for-3) being hit by a pitch and Kaitlyn St. Clair walked with one out. A Hayley Barbazon singled loaded the bases before Cantrell's and Black's RBI singles.

With a 1-0 lead, McNeese starter Alexsandra Flores (12-12) worked around a pair of errors in the second inning to hold NSU to just one run, which Kayla Roquemore scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

Brown waded through some early-inning trouble as McNeese manufactured its first-inning run. A McClain walk and a Kaylee Lopez single set up a Demi Boudreaux sacrifice fly.

McNeese pulled ahead again with a Alexandria Saldivar RBI double for a 2-1 edge in the second inning.

NSU answered again in the next inning with a Jones RBI single to knot the score, 2-2, following an Elise Vincent triple.

After the Lady Demons and Cowgirls traded a couple of scoreless innings, the Cowgirls inched ahead with a Lopez RBI double in the fifth inning for a 3-2 advantage.

"Brown was a senior out there tonight," Pickett said. "She was giving up some hits, but she came back every time and answered the bell.

"She stayed confident and kept doing her thing, and we made enough plays behind her. McNeese was pressuring us with bunts, and I can't say enough about this team's toughness."

The Lady Demons stranded eight runners throughout, but Cantrell and Black delivered with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

For Brown (6-7), she records her third win in a week after shutting out Prairie View A&M and Central Arkansas.

Brown allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks and four strikeouts to hand McNeese its first SLC Tournament loss since 2015. The Cowgirls have swept their way to the past three SLC Tournament titles.

"I knew we were going to fight the whole time, and McNeese was fighting back, but I just knew we were going to come out on top," Brown said. "It feels awesome to be in this position, and we know that we are good at home and that we fight.

"But today we showed a different kind of fight."

The Deville native is one win away from fifth place on NSU's all-time wins list with 47.