YOUNGSVILLE – The second day of the Mardi Gras Mambo started with Northwestern State throwing beads from a parade float. It ended with two more wins as the Lady Demons raked (and rolled) in the good times with a 5-0 win against Manhattan and 8-2 victory against Gardner-Webb.
 
As steadily as the purple, green and gold beads flew from the float in the morning parade, the hits from the NSU (5-3) bats came just as plentifully to the tune of 18 on the day, six of which went for extra bases including a critical long ball in the night cap.
 
NSU 5, Manhattan 0
 
The Lady Demons got their third quality performance in the circle in three games from their third different pitcher to start the day.
 
In her second start in an NSU uniform, Ryleigh Denton worked both sides of the plate to keep the Manhattan hitters guessing all afternoon. She struck out a pair in the first inning needing just nine total pitches to get through the first three batters.
 
After a couple of defensive miscues in the second opened the door for the Jaspers to get on the board, Denton locked in even more to retire eight straight hitters from the end of the second into the fifth inning before a single up the middle accounted for the first hit off Denton and the first baserunner since the second.
 
"Ryliegh (Denton) did a great job for the second time in a row to start the season and was really strong in the circle," head coach Donald Pickett said. "We were able to break the Manhattan game open towards the end. We still need to clean things up defensively, but I really love the energy we finished the night with, started really playing softball and being confident in it."
 
After her seventh straight retired batter, the NSU offense provided its first major breakthrough of the game after stranding runners in each of the previous three innings.
 
Nani Winger started the rally with a leadoff single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Laney Roos dropped a double into shallow left that allowed Winger to score and give NSU the 1-0 lead.
 
Like they did the day before, the Demons benefited from putting the ball in play and forcing the defense to make a play. A Kat Marshall ball to short resulted in a wild throw to first allowing two more runs to come across on what would have been the final out of the inning, putting NSU up 3-0.
 
 It was Winger again in the sixth that led to more run support for Denton as a double down the line in left put her in scoring position again, this time for a Bailie Ragsdale knock to right that made it a 4-0 game. Roos followed with the third straight hit to score Ragsdale, who stole second base, for the second straight crooked inning on offense.
 
The Jaspers made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh after loading the bases on a hit, walk and error. Back-to-back swinging strikeouts for Denton, giving her eight total, led to an easy ground ball to short for the final out and an NSU win.
 
NSU 8, Gardner-Webb 2
 
The Demons got on the board first against Gardner-Webb thanks to the swift feet of Ragsdale. With the bases loaded and two out, the speedy second baseman beat out a slow roller up the first base line that allowed the run from third to score on the play.
 
The Bulldogs tied the game two innings later on a leadoff solo home run and threatened to add on with another hit and a walk, but Bronte Rhoden slammed the door with a strike out to keep the game tied at one.
 
In the top of the next inning, however, Marshall one-upped the GWU long ball with an even bigger two-out swing.
 
Ragsdale started the inning with a base hit and after two pop ups on the infield, Keely Dubois pulled one through the left side. After the entire lineup struggled to get on top of the rise ball all night long, Marshall was able to drive one deep over the left field wall on the first pitch of the at bat to make it a 4-1 NSU game.
 
An error in the bottom of the inning allowed the Bulldogs to get one of the runs back, but three errors of their own in the sixth gifted the run back to NSU and then some.
 
Winger came in to score on an error by the first baseman to push the lead back to three and after Makenzie Chaffin was hit by a pitch she raced all the way around to score on a screaming double down the line off the bat of Dubois that added two more runs. A dropped fly ball in center allowed Camryn Ford to score two batters later.
 
NSU added four runs to the lead with the benefit of just one hit, all with two outs in the inning.
 
"Keely and Kat having those big back-to-back hits opened the game up," Pickett said. "We were able to continually put pressure on both teams all day long and as the game went it grew and grew. We didn't settle and the fast start we got off to in the game was something we struggled with so far this season and it really helped us down the stretch tonight."
 
Pickett went to the bullpen for the first time on the day in the bottom of the sixth, bringing in Maggie Darr who struck out five of the six batters she faced to slam the door on the Bulldogs and move NSU to 4-0 on the weekend.