LAKE CHARLES – In a full-fledged pitcher's duel Saturday afternoon, Northwestern State was unable cash in on some late scoring chances in a 2-0 loss to McNeese in the series finale.
The Cowgirls (28-12, 11-1) got two-out hits in the first and sixth to account for their only two runs of the game while the Lady Demons (19-17, 6-6) left the tying run on base in each of the final three innings of the game.
"We had three chances to score in the game and we just didn't get the timely hit," head coach
Donald Pickett said. "They got a couple of two-out hits that scored their runs and we had chances to score just didn't get that hit. In a game like that you've got to make the most of those chances. The girls fought hard and I was proud of them for that. We had a chance but just didn't come through this time."
For the second straight game McNeese took the lead in the bottom of the first inning, getting a pair of two-out singles to left, the second of which scoring the lone run of the first five and a half innings of the game.
NSU starter
Maggie Darr and McNeese starter Ashley Vallejo engaged in an impressive head-to-head pitcher's duel combining for four straight shutout innings on both sides, each after pitching more than five innings in Friday's doubleheader.
Darr threw the final five innings of NSU's 7-6 win in game one of the day while Vallejo threw a complete game in the second allowing just one hit with 14 strikeouts.
Vallejo wasn't quite as dominant on Saturday, only punching out three in 5 1/3 innings, but let her defense work behind her as she retired the first 13 batters she faced in a row before surrendering back-to-back walks to
Makenzie Chaffin and
Laney Roos with one out in the fifth inning.
Darr worked her way through traffic in each of her shutout innings and scattered eight hits across six innings but continued to put up zeros in the run column as the game wore on. She only retired the side in order once in the game, doing so on six pitches in the sixth inning
"She did a great job and gave us a chance to win the game," Pickett said of Darr's outing. "That was big for her to come out and do that after pitching five innings yesterday. That was a big deal. It's really hard to do when you're coming back like that so for her to grind it out and give us a chance was huge."
The two walks in the fifth from Chaffin and Roos were NSU's first two baserunners of the day, serving as its first real run-scoring opportunity with one out. The Cowgirls escaped any potential rally by turning a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Ashlyn Walker broke up the no-hitter in the sixth with a one-out single to third, which was followed by a walk to
Bailie Ragsdale to put two runners on with one out for NSU for the second straight inning. A fly ball to right moved pinch-runner
Camryn Ford to third but the threat ended with a swinging strikeout leaving the tying run 60 feet away at third.
A two-out double in the bottom of the inning gave McNeese an insurance run heading to the seventh as NSU mounted one final scoring chance in the inning. Base hits from Chaffin and
Tristin Court put the tying run on base but a strikeout left them at the corners and ended the game.
NSU continues its seven-game road swing on Tuesday at Grambling before traveling to San Antonio next weekend for a three-game series at UIW.
