NATCHITOCHES – Plenty of two-out frustration in the first game and some key defensive plays in the second got Northwestern State a split in its first two games of the Southland Conference schedule on Saturday afternoon.
 
Lamar scored eight runs, all with two outs, in an 8-2 win over the Lady Demons to start the day, but five runs in the first two innings of game two, also coming with two gone, was enough for Kenzie Seely and the defense to salvage the opening day double header 5-4.
 
The teams will play the rubber game of the series beginning at 12 p.m., weather permitting, on Sunday afternoon.
 
Lamar 8, NSU 2
 
The two-out damage that propelled the Cardinals (8-19, 1-1) through the first game of the day started right away in the first inning. After started Maggie Darr got two relatively easy outs on a strikeout and fly ball to left, it took just two more pitches for Lamar to take the lead.
 
A base hit to center and a home run to left put Lamar up 2-0 just as quickly as they were down to their final out of the inning.
 
The Lady Demons (12-8, 1-1) cut the lead in half in the second after Keely Dubois and Taylor Williams both reached base to start the inning. A throw to the plate on a ground ball to second later in the inning was mishandled by the catcher allowing Dubois to slide in safely to get NSU on the board. A strikeout and grounder to short left the tying run at third however to end the inning.
 
The Cardinals busted the game open in the top of the next inning. It was once again a strikeout, to Lamar's best hitter, and a ground out that put two outs on the board and set the offense in motion once again. A walk, single and stolen base put two in scoring position for one of the thorns in NSU's side all day Cameron Niedenthal who hit a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-1.
 
Another walk and another base hit up the middle added two more runs to the Lamar lead thanks to a two-base error in the outfield and a double down the line in left put the Cardinals ahead 7-1 in the third.
 
"Our conference is really competitive top to bottom and if you're a hair off it can be a long day," head coach Donald Pickett said. "We were off in that first game but still in some good situations to get some outs and just didn't get the job done."
 
Dubois drove in a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI ground out but the Demons only managed one hit from that point forward and Lamar got that run back on an infield single, with two outs, in the fifth.
 
Seven of Lamar's nine total hits in the game came with two outs in the inning.
 
NSU 5, Lamar 4
 
Needing a bounce-back performance to earn a split on the day, it was the Demons who were the aggressors early in the second game.
 
Back-to-back singles from Makenzie Chaffin and Laney Roos, and a productive out from Kat Marshall, put a pair in scoring position for NSU in the bottom of the first. The theme of two-out runs on the day worked in favor of the Demons this time as Dubois beat the infield shift with a grounder to right scoring the first two runs of the day.
 
The Cardinals tied the game in the top of the second on a throwing error with the bases loaded, but the first key defensive play of the game kept Lamar from taking the lead. Tristin Court snagged a sharp grounder at third, applied the tag to the runner and fired across to first for an inning, and momentum, ending double play.
 
Ashlyn Walker got things started in the bottom of the second with a leadoff double that helped NSU load the bases with one out. Chaffin lifted a ball to left, plenty deep enough to score Walker from third on the sacrifice fly and put the Demons back on top.
 
Laney Roos followed with a double to left center for two more runs and the second straight crooked number for the NSU offense, making it a 5-2 game.
 
"I told them between games we had to have more fight," Pickett said. "Lamar did a good job coming out and being the aggressor early. When you don't come out ready to play in this conference, the other team is going to take advantage of that, and I think that's what happened in that first game. 
 
"We dug ourselves a hole so I told them we've got to come out and get out of it. They did a great job responding in those first two or three innings of the second game." 
 
Lamar got runners on base in each of the next two innings, but Court and Dubois each made nice defensive plays with two outs in those innings to prevent any thoughts of more two-out Cardinal rallies.
 
The Cardinals were able to break through in the fifth by avoiding the left side of the infield altogether with a double and home run that cut the lead back down to just one late in the game at 5-4.
 
Seely was able to get out of the jam later in the inning to maintain the NSU lead getting an important strikeout to end the frame and strand runners at second and third.
 
"She put a few more people on that I'd like to see, which she does sometimes, but she seems to be able to get out of it more than not," Pickett said of Seely's performance in the win. "She pitches well with runners on base and the defense made some great plays behind her. Tristin Court made some big time plays for us at third and that was a big difference in the game today."
 
The Cardinals got the tying or go-ahead runs on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but each time Seely was able to keep Lamar from cashing in those runs. A single and walk with two outs in the seventh loaded the bases but Seely forced an easy ground ball to short for Dubois to fire across for the final out of the game giving NSU the one-run win.