Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LAKE CHARLES – Northwestern State split the first two games of its conference series at McNeese getting a 7-6 win in the opener before being shut out 4-0 in the second game.
 
The Lady Demons (19-16, 6-5) handed McNeese its first Southland Conference loss of the season thanks to a seventh inning double from Taylor Williams. Cowgirl (27-11, 10-1) starter Ashley Vallejo struck out NSU 14 times in the second game dousing the hot Demon offense in the shutout.
 
NSU 7, McNeese 6
 
The Demons got multiple clutch hits in the series-opening win starting in the first inning. One of three McNeese errors in the game opened the door for NSU in the inning, after a Kat Marshall double put two runners in scoring position.
 
Her hit was one of four straight, two-out hits for the Demons with Makenzie Chaffin and Tristin Court driving in runs on their base hits to right and giving NSU a 3-0 lead on its first trip to the plate of the day.
 
"We hit the ball hard all day," head coach Donald Pickett said. "We did a good job of getting people on base and getting them in. They weren't able to make some plays on those hard hits and we got the hits when we needed them and kept putting pressure on them each and every inning."
 
McNeese cut into the lead in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs and the teams traded lone runs in the third, with NSU's coming on the third McNeese error of the day that allowed Laney Roos to score.
 
The Cowgirls took their only lead of the game on a bases loaded triple with two outs in the fourth that put them ahead 6-4 after four innings of play.
 
A fifth two-out hit in the top of the fifth from Bailie Ragsdale got one run back for the Demons and gave them a chance to take the lead in the sixth after a shutdown inning from Maggie Darr in the bottom of the frame.
 
The first three batters of the inning reached base for NSU on a walk and two straight base hits. Court picked up her third RBI of the game on an RBI groundout to second that brought NSU even with McNeese at six after six. 
 
Darr got the bats back to work quickly following another zero in the circle. Ragsdale worked a one-out walk to reach base as the potential go-ahead run for the late-game heroics from Taylor Williams.
 
Hitless in four at bats to that point in the game, Williams split the gap in left center for a double that brought Ragsdale all the way around from first to score and give the Demons the last 7-6 edge.
 
"I hadn't had the best day at plate but I knew that I had to keep trusting myself and my swing and I would get a piece of something," Williams said. "I went up there with the attitude I was going to hit the ball because I just had a feeling it was my time. I had to keep a mindset of playing the game pitch by pitch and knowing God had a plan for me in that moment.
 
"When I saw Bailie score, I felt so excited because I knew our team had fought so hard every pitch of that game and I was blessed enough to contribute to the win. We played for each other, and I knew after she scored, we had the game. Our energy was just too good at that point."
 
Williams then made a critical play in left on a leadoff single by throwing the runner out at second trying to stretch the hit into two bases. Darr induced two straight ground balls after the lone hit of the inning to pick up her 10^th win of the season and hand McNeese its first conference loss of the season.
 
Four Demons had multiple hits in the game led by Marshall's 3-for-5 performance. NSU's seven runs in the game matched the total number of runs allowed by McNeese all season in league games.
 
McNeese 4, NSU 0
 
Just as the Demons did in the opener, McNeese took advantage of a couple of first inning miscues to take an early lead. A throwing error on an infield single allowed a run to score and a passed ball during the next at bat put two runs on the board before an out was recorded. The Cowgirls took a 3-0 lead into the second after a sacrifice fly to left.
 
The early run support was more than enough for Cowgirl pitcher Ashley Vallejo who was on a mission from the start of the game.
 
She retired the first five batters in a row with strikeouts and struck out seven in her first trip through the lineup. Vallejo carried a perfect game into the fifth inning before a Laney Roos, two-out single ended the perfection and no-hitter in one swing.
 
The 2022 Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year faced one over the minimum in the game and finished with a career-high 14 strikeouts in the game.
 
"Their kid threw a great game," Pickett said. "We're going to have to make some adjustments and make sure we're doing things at the plate to be a little more competitive tomorrow. We've got a chance to win the series, so we've got to come out and play our best game of the weekend. We've got to come out determined and confident and try and win that game."
 
After the early defensive miscues, NSU starter Kenzie Seely went toe-to-toe with Vallejo through the rest of the game, allowing just one run on five scattered hits in her final five innings of work.
 
NSU will try for its first series win against McNeese in Lake Charles since 2005 on Saturday afternoon beginning at 12 p.m.