MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A hard-nosed, dramatic, extra-inning win to start the day and contributions up and down the lineup led to a pair of wins for Northwestern State on the first day of the Tiger Classic.

The Lady Demons (16-11) got a pair of late-game, two-run hits from Keely DuBois to take down James Madison 8-6 in nine innings to start the day and used a five-run third against East Tennessee State for a 7-1, win their second of the day, and fourth in three days.

"They did a great job of keeping the energy up, everybody being in the game and focused in on things," head coach Donald Pickett said. "We made a couple of mistakes and put quite a few runners on base, but we were able to get out of those jams and we were able to continue to score runs. Our offense really did a lot today and give us a cushion. Just really proud of them and the way they continued to grind through."

Two days after the top four batters created hit after hit and run after run, it was the next four batters against James Madison that carried the load in the extra-innings win.

Tristin Court, who had three hits on the day out of the eight spot, produced the first two runs of the game for the Lady Demons with RBI singles in the second and fourth innings. Both hits gave NSU the lead at the time, 1-0 in the second and 2-1 in the fourth.

The lone unearned run through the first five innings for the darlings of the 2021 WCWS came after an error moved the runner to third and wild pitch allowed her to score. The rest of the time starting pitcher Kenzie Seely continued to get stronger as the game moved along.

She allowed just one hit, a single in the first, through 5 2/3 innings of work and retired 11 of 12 batters she faced until a two-out home run in the bottom of the sixth that answered a Bailie Ragsdale RBI single in the top of the inning.

JMU's home run was just the beginning of the late fireworks from both teams. Keely DuBois sent the first pitch she saw in the top of the seventh over the wall in left for what appeared to be two insurance runs making the score 5-2.

The Dukes drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the inning and after a double and since to center drew back within a run at 5-4. After a pitching change and a strikeout, reliever Maggie Darr induced a potential game-ending ground ball but a throwing error allowed the tying run to score to send the game to extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth, the Lady Demons got to work right away in the ninth. A walk and a double put runners at second and third with no out for DuBois to drive in two more runs on a base hit up the middle to put the Lady Demons ahead. A Kat Marshall hit two batters later brough pinch runner Nani Winger in to put NSU ahead 8-5 going to the bottom of the inning.

Those runs would prove to be important again as a double, wild pitch and base hit scored a run for JMU three batters into its half of the ninth. The Dukes loaded the bases after a fielder's choice and drawing an 11-pitch walk to put the winning run on first base.

Pickett went to his bullpen again after the first two pitches missed the strike zone to bring in the nation's leader in saves, freshman Sage Hoover.

She needed just four pitches to get the final batter swinging, earning her fifth save of the season and giving the Demons a hard-fought victory.

The five through eight hole batters in the lineup went 10-for-14 in the game with a double, home run and drove in seven of NSU's eight runs in the game.
Pickett challenge his team following the sweep in Houston and they rose to the task with a pair of wins against Jackson State. He did the same following two lackluster innings against East Tennessee State, and again the Lady Demons responded.

The first three batters of the third reached for NSU allowing a Taylor Williams base hit to make it a 1-0 game. Three pitches later Laney Roos laced a double down the left-field line to clear the bases and give the Lady Demons the early 4-0 lead.

DuBois added to the total with a sacrifice fly for her fifth RBI of the day giving NSU a 5-0 advantage.

"I think the first two innings we were kind of going through the motions, maybe still thinking about that first game," Pickett said. "We lit a fire under them after the second and they responded and put that big number on the board. They played really strong the rest of the game. I like how they responded when we challenged them there."

After allowing ETSU to score a run on a base hit, Court got it right back in the top of the next inning hitting her first home run at NSU pushing the lead back to five.

The Lady Demons had a chance to blow the top off the game in the next inning after loading the bases with just one out. Casey Irvin worked the third walk of the inning to make it a 7-1 game, but the potential run-rule winning hit did not come.

Bronte Rhoden, who entered the game in the fourth inning, picked up her second win of the week by tossing four shutout innings allowing just two hits and striking out four. Sage Hoover started the game and allowed just three hits with six Ks, giving NSU pitchers their 11^th game this season with 10 or more strikeouts, more than the combined total from the past four seasons.

"We had some hits up and down the lineup from a bunch of different people today," Pickett said. "That's what we've got to continue to do. I think the lineup is getting more confident and we're getting a little deeper offensively to go at teams more consistently. It was really big today for the middle to bottom of the order to come through like they did in some big-time situations."

NSU continues play in the Tiger Classic with an 11:30 a.m. start against East Tennessee State on Saturday followed by a date with host Memphis at 4 p.m.