ARLINGTON, Texas – Northwestern State got two stellar pitching outings once again, but two different endings as they took the opening game 6-1 against Fordham before falling in a pitcher's duel to UTSA 3-2 on Friday night.
 
NSU 6, Fordham 1
 
It took just three batters for NSU (11-7) to put its first two runs of the game on the board. After a pair of errors by the Fordham (4-9) defense and a stolen bag by Taylor Williams put runners on second and third, Laney Roos delivered an RBI single through the right side to put the Lady Demons up 2-0.
 
It was the top of the lineup again in the second that added more key hits, this time coming with a little two-out magic. 
 
Trisin Court walked to start the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a pop up to third for the second out, Bailie Ragsdale traded places with Court on a double down the right field line to make it a 3-0 game. Following a Williams walk, Roos came through again with her second RBI hit in as many at bats, this time a single to left, to give NSU the 4-0 lead after two innings of play.
 
"Getting those runs early was really the difference in the game," head coach Donald Pickett said. "We need to be stronger and finish that thing out early, wanting to get that done and shortening the game. We weren't able to do that, but we were able to come away with a win against a quality team. We've got to create that finishing mentality. We're working towards it but don't have it quite yet."
 
Starting pitcher Sage Hoover had all the support she needed at that point. After five strikeouts in the first two innings, Hoover had little trouble the first time through the batting order.
 
She worked out of a jam in the fourth after a pair of hits started the inning and a one-out walk loaded the bases. Hoover get ahead with two quick strikes on the next better and put her away with a swing and miss for the second out then got the next hitter swinging on a full-count pitch to escape the inning unscathed.
 
"Sage came out and did really well and they made some adjustments the second time through," Pickett said. "The top of their lineup was really good, and they saw a lot of pitches. They adjusted well but she was able to mix some things up and work with some different pitches and different things, grind through it to get us deeper in the game."
 
NSU missed a chance to add to its lead in the bottom of the inning but got the needed hit in the fifth.
 
Maggie Black brought in two more runs on a base hit to right, the third hit of the inning, and putting the Lady Demons in position to end the game early with one more timely hit. Casey Irvin was hit by a pitch and a wild pitch sent her and Black up a base representing the game-winning run, but a pop up and ground ball to third left them there and sent the game to the sixth.
 
Hoover got a shutdown inning and her ninth strikeout of the game in the sixth, but ran into more trouble in the seventh.
 
A base hit and two walks brought Kenzie Seely in out of the bullpen to try and limit any damage and she did just that. The Rams got on the board with a base hit to left but a soft liner to third and a strikeout prevented any thought they had of a comeback and gave NSU its ninth win this season when holding opponents to two runs or less.
 
UTSA 3, NSU 2
 
The second game of the day had little drama until the very late stages, especially for the Lady Demons.
 
UTSA (5-11) started the bottom of the first with a base hit through the right side. That would be the Roadrunners only hit through the first 4 and 2-3 innings as Maggie Darr was once again excellent in the circle for the Lady Demons.
 
The redshirt freshman retired 12 straight batters from the first through the fifth innings as she went toe-to-toe and pitch-for-pitch with UTSA starter Marena Estell.
 
The two defined what it meant to be locked in a pitcher's duel as Estell faced the minimum through four and Darr faced just one over the minimum through that same time period. Each allowed just one hit through four innings before the Roadrunners were finally able to break through.
 
"Offensively we've got to be better," Pickett said. "The top of our lineup has got to be better for us to win. We didn't get a lot from them against UTSA and we can't wait until the seventh inning or our backs are against the wall to start scoring runs. 
 
"We can't put things on cruise control and keep relying on our pitchers to put up zeros. We have to go up with a mentality we're going to score early and often and we didn't do that."
 
With two outs in the fifth, Estell took matters into her own hands at the plate, hitting a solo home run off Darr to break the scoreless draw and help her own cause. UTSA added another run with back-to-back doubles, the second coming after the batter Ciarra Mata fouled off three straight two strike pitches.
 
The Lady Demons had designs of answered the blow in the next half inning, but for the second time in the game a leadoff single was erased on a double play, thwarting any potential momentum.
 
UTSA picked up one more run with a leadoff home run in the sixth, bringing Bronte Rhoden out of the bullpen to keep the score where it was at 3-0. Rhoden struck out a pair and sent the Lady Demons into their final at bat hoping for more late-inning magic.
 
Keely DuBois ripped a one-out double into left, but NSU needed one more baserunner that didn't come before Lexie Roos delivered a huge helping blow. After fouling off a couple of pitches of her own to stay alive with NSU down to its final strike, Roos connected on a pitch sending it over the left field wall to make it a one-run game.
 
That's where the magic stopped however as a pop up to first ended the game in a 3-2 defeat.
 
The long ball was the first of Roos' career and one of her two hits in the game. She and DuBois combined to go 4-for-6 in the game and scored both runs.
 
NSU takes on the same two teams again on Saturday in back-to-back games starting at 11 a.m. with Fordham followed by a 1:30 start against UTSA.