NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Northwestern State got two more stellar pitching performances on Tuesday night from seniors Maggie Darr and Kenzie Seely. One was a 1-0 shutout with double-digit strikeouts while the other ended in a 4-3 loss in extra innings.
 
Game 1: SFA 4, NSU 4 (9 inn.)
 
There was very little separating the rivals throughout the entire game. The first time through the batting order both teams only managed one hit against the other's starting pitcher. SFA's Brittney Coe had a soft single in the 1st inning and Laney Roos had a single up the middle in the second.
 
Taylor Williams opened the second run through the lineup with a double to start the fourth inning. Two batters later Tristin Court laced a ball off the wall in dead center field to bring Williams around to score and give NSU a 1-0 lead. Roos sent her second hit of the game through the right side staking NSU to a two-run lead.
 
A double helped the Lumberjack to their first run of the day as well in the bottom of the inning, taking the same route with a single up the middle. The Demons held their lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when back-to-back two-out hits tied the game. 
 
To that point starter Maggie Darr had allowed just one hit through the first three innings, finishing the game allowing just four hits and one run with four strikeout 
 
Roos picked up her third hit of the game to start the seventh inning, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt and putting the potential go-ahead run in scoring position. The Demons were unable to come through with the needed hit to push back ahead on a pair of groundouts
 
Relief pitcher Aly Delafield cruised through the bottom of the inning getting the side in order, sending the game to extra innings, the first of the season for NSU.
 
As even as the two teams were the first time through the order, they were just as equal through seven innings. Both had two runs on six hits with a pair of extra-base hits among them.
 
Both teams scored in the eighth inning in nearly the exact same manner. A sacrifice bunt advance the courtesy runner placed at second to start extra innings to third base. NSU's Camryn Ford scored sliding in under the tag at home on a single by Taylor Williams and SFA answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half sending the game to the ninth.
 
After holding the Demons off the scoreboard in the top of the ninth, the first batter of the inning, Aminah Galcatcher, dumped a bloop single into right center allowing just enough time for the courtesy runner at second to slide in around the tag and end the game. It was the third one-run loss for NSU in the past four games of the young season.
 
Game 2: NSU 1, SFA 0
 
In game two, and for her second straight start, Kenzie Seely was nails for Northwestern State.
 
The senior struck out five of the first 10 batters she faced in the game and induced soft contact on the handful of balls that were put in play the first two times through the SFA batting order. An error in the first and a walk in the second were the only two baserunners the Lumberjacks managed through 5 2/3 against Seely.
 
"We were coming off a tough loss in that first game and I wanted to get the momentum up right away," Seely said. "So I went out there and pounded the strike zone, let my defense work and try to throw my best stuff."
 
The Demons provided all the offense they would need in the game in the top of the fourth when Mia Liscano picked up the game's first hit on a bunt single to start the inning. She moved to second on a groundout and used her aggressive baserunning to score from there on an infield single by Ashlyn Walker.
 
Seely and the defense carried the game the rest of the way. She took a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth and faced just one batter over the minimum through that point. After retiring 12 straight with two outs in the sixth, SFA got their first hit on a line drive just past Tristin Court at third. Another hit and a walk later and the Lumberjacks threatened to tie or take the lead.
 
A nice play to her right from Liscano and a flip to Court at third secured the final out getting Seely and the Demons out of the jam unscathed.
 
"You can't think about it," Seely said about the potential no-hitter with a laugh. "If you do it's bad juju and you mess it up. After they did get that hit I just really wanted to get us a win and trusted that my stuff was better than theirs and stuck to the game plan."
 
A walk in the bottom of the seventh put the tying run on base but the drama quickly exited the park as Seely slammed the door with two more strikeouts to finish the game, getting her 10^th punchout for the final out.
 
The win was Seely's second career complete game shutout and the first since a one-hitter against Lipscomb in 2022.