NATCHITOCHES – For the second time in the series Northwestern State took an early lead against Southeastern in Saturday's regular season finale. And for the second time in the series, a crooked number inning from the Lions was enough to capture a 7-1 and road sweep of the Lady Demons.
 
On her senior weekend it was Makenzie Chaffin for the second time in three games that gave the Lady Demons (24-25, 10-14) an early lead. Her two-run home run put NSU ahead in the opener on Friday and an RBI single did the job in the first inning on Saturday.
 
The relentless Southeastern lineup strung together four straight two-out hits, including a back-breaking two-run home run, in the fifth to take the wind from the sails of the Demons late in the game.
 
"Bronte (Rhoden) gave us a chance to be in the game and win it but that error cost us a run and with two outs they (Southeastern) were able to get one big swing to change the game," head coach Donald Pickett said. "We couldn't really do anything offensively today after that first inning and had some at 'em balls and just couldn't put something together to score."'
 
Chaffin's RBI single was the first of three hits on the day for NSU, all coming in the first four innings when the game was still very much up for grabs.
 
A two-out double by the Lions tied the game in the top of the second, but the Demons squandered their potential answer in the bottom of the inning after a walk and base hit put two runners on base for the top of the lineup.
 
A fly ball to left and a swing and miss strike out ended the inning and the final major scoring threat for the Demons in the game. A Tristin Court double in the fourth served as the final hit of the game for NSU as starting pitcher MC Comeaux, who reentered the game after a 2 1/3 inning break, retired 11 of the final 14 batters she faced to finish the game.
 
The first of two NSU throwing errors in the game allowed the Lions to take the lead on a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The four straight hits in the fifth with two outs came after Rhoden retired the first two batters of the inning on four pitches.
 
The conference leader in home runs, Bailey Krolczyk, hit her 10^th of the season to make it a 4-1 game, and a two-run single after a wild pitch put runners in scoring position pushed the lead to 6-1.
 
Rhoden worked the first 4 2/3 innings of the game allowing just one earned run on four hits in her final appearance at the Demon Diamond. 
 
The Lady Demons will enter the Southland Conference Tournament in Lake Charles as either the fifth of sixth seed in the seven-team, double-elimination tournament. Their first game will be Tuesday afternoon on ESPN+.