SAN ANTONIO – Free passes and a costly error doomed Northwestern State in Saturday's finale at UIW that ended 11-3 in five innings.
An eight-run bottom of the second, fueled by a four-base error that scored three runs, provided enough momentum for UIW (13-23-1, 5-10) to hand the Lady Demons (21-19, 7-8) its second loss of the weekend and first series loss to the Cardinals since 2016.
The first of five walks on the day given up by NSU pitchers started the game-defining inning for the Cardinals. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third, each of the next eight batters reached base for the Cardinals.
With runners on first and second, another attempt at a sacrifice bunt ended up scoring three runs as the throw to first sailed high and down the right field line. The speedy runner Dominique Guerra raced all the way around to score on the play, sliding in under the tag, making it a 4-0 game.
An RBI single added another run, and two more came across on a wild pitch that slipped out of the hand of
Maggie Darr on the release. NSU was able to catch the runner at first in a rundown for the second out and Darr struck out the next batter but not before eight runs had crossed home plate.
The Demons came back with three straight hits to start the third, the third of which being the first career hit for freshman
Camryn Ford, a double to left that also brought in her first RBI as
Tristin Court scored from second base.
Taylor Williams and
Keely Dubois each added RBI singles to cut into the lead even more, but the five-hit rally ended there after a pop up to second and a fly out to left.
UIW got two of the runs back in the bottom of the inning on a two run double to left center, setting the stage for the game-winning double in the fifth inning.
Court finished the day 2-for-2 with a run scored, extending her current team-best hitting streak to five straight games.
NSU returns home for the first time since April 1 when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a three game series that begins on April 21 with a doubleheader at 4 p.m.
