LAKE CHARLES — The Northwestern State softball team produced a few loud runs Saturday against McNeese at Cowgirl Diamond. Unfortunately for the Lady Demons, the Cowgirls conjured up the final loud run.
Haylee Binlee hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving McNeese the 5-3 victory and the series win. The loss drops NSU to 20-19 overall and 14-10 in Southland Conference play, while the win improves the Cowgirls to 28-23 overall and 16-8 in league action.
As mentioned, the Lady Demons hit a couple home runs, themselves. The first was off the bat of junior starting pitcher Jensen Howell — a solo shot to left that cut the McNeese lead in half, 2-1, in the top of the second inning.
The second homer was credited to junior infielder Cayla Jones in the top of third inning. She went opposite field to left center for a two-run home run that vaulted NSU ahead 3-2.
That represented Jones' second hit of the day and third of the series. She's providing some teeth to the middle of NSU's order, having hit safely in seven of the last eight contests.
The Lady Demons' one-run advantage held for nearly the entire way. And that credit goes to junior E.C. Delafield.
She came on in relief of Howell in the top of the first inning, and inherited a bases-loaded, no-out jam. Delafield maneuvered out of that, giving up two runs and then locked in.
Delafield kept McNeese off the board until the bottom of the seventh. The Cowgirls executed a safety squeeze with one out and a runner on third to knot the game at 3-3.
While Delafield's final pitch put an unsavory taste in NSU's mouth, it shouldn't overshadow her effort. She finished having tossed seven innings and allowing three earned runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.
Delafield suffered the loss, dropping her to 9-4 on the season.
Whitney Tate recorded the win in relief for the Cowgirls. She twirled 5.2 innings, surrendering one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Northwestern State finishes up regular-season play at home next weekend. The Lady Demons host Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game series that begins Friday with a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.
