YOUNGSVILLE – Big innings and reliable pitching carried Northwestern State to a pair of wins Friday to open the Mardi Gras Mambo.
NSU pieced together a four-run inning to top Houston Baptist, 6-1, and a three-run frame in a 7-4 win against Detroit Mercy.
The Lady Demons (6-4) will ride in the Youngsville Mardi Gras parade Saturday before facing Middle Tennessee at 3 p.m.
NSU 6, Houston Baptist 1
Freshman Kat Marshall had a career day in the first game, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs in a non-conference win against the Huskies.
Marshall cleared the bases with a double as part of NSU's four-run first inning.
After sophomore E.C. Delafield knocked in junior Elise Vincent to start the scoring, the Lady Demons loaded the bases with walks by sophomore Alexis Perry and senior Emma Hawthorne.
HBU starter Madison Cotton finished the inning, but Marshall's three-RBI double effectively ended Cotton's day.
The early run support was more than enough for NSU junior starter Jensen Howell (3-2), who scattered seven hits over seven innings with just one run allowed.
Marshall supplied her fourth RBI in the third inning, plating Delafield, who reached base after striking out.
Howell ran into her biggest challenge in the third inning when the Huskies loaded the bases with no outs on two hits and an error.
HBU's Katy Schaefer singled in a run to slice NSU's lead to 5-1, but Howell recorded the next three outs to avoid the big inning.
Howell struck out five batters and sidestepped seven hits to lower her season ERA to 1.41.
Senior Hayley Barbazon tacked on a fifth-inning RBI and finished the day with her team-best total of 12 this season.
NSU 7, Detroit Mercy 4
A three-run second inning supported solid pitching performances from junior starter E.C. Delafield and sophomore reliever Bronte Rhoden as the Lady Demons swept the Friday doubleheader.
NSU capitalized on five Titans' errors as just three of the Lady Demons' seven runs were earned.
That trend rang true in the second inning as all three runs were unearned.
Senior Kaitlyn St. Clair scored on a passed ball after leading off with a single to put NSU up 2-0. With two outs and already an error committed, Elise Vincent (2-for-3) plated Kat Marshall with a single before Vincent scored on the second error of the inning for a 4-0 edge.
Detroit Mercy's Reese Ruhlman kept the Titans in the game offensive, hitting a two-run home run in the third inning and a two-run double in the fourth inning that tied the score 4-4.
But the Lady Demons produced three runs in the next two innings to re-establish their lead.
Marshall supplied the go-ahead run with an RBI single up the middle before Hayley Barbazon delivered an RBI single, both with two outs.
All seven of NSU's runs were scored with two outs.
Delafield, who recovered from a fall injury and recently battled back from the flu, had a decent outing with two earned runs (four total) in four innings. Before Ruhlman's two-run home run, a pop fly that eventually rolled foul could have easily been caught in the third inning.
Delafield finished with six hits allowed and four strikeouts.
The Titans two runs in the fourth inning were unearned.
Rhoden pitched a strong three shutout innings to earn her first save of the season. She sidestepped two hits and struck out three.
For Marshall, her combined five RBIs Saturday raised her season total to nine, all coming in the last four games. The Brenham, Texas, native also flashed her defensive skills at first base, particularly in the Detroit Mercy. Marshall stretched for multiple throws to secure outs against the comeback-minded Titans.
