HOUSTON – Northwestern State went blow-for-blow with the high-powered Houston offense on Sunday in game one but could not keep pace in game two dropping both games of a doubleheader with the Cougars.
 
A pair of long balls, the first of the season for both Tristin Court and Laney Roos, gave the Demons (5-7) leads in game one but a steady Cougar attack led to an 8-7 walk-off win to open the day. That momentum carried over into a four-run first inning of game two that Houston never looked back in to win 13-0 in five.
 
Game 1: Houston 8, NSU 7
 
Down 1-0 after the first inning, the Demons pounced on Houston starting pitcher Tamya Waiters showcasing scoring runs with all the tools in their toolbox.
 
With runners at first and second after a walk and single to right to open the inning, two straight sacrifice bunts tied the game at one. Bailie Ragsdale advanced the runners 60 feet and Sophia Livers laid down a perfectly executed squeeze bunt to score Mia Liscano diving in from third.
 
After using small ball to tie the game the mid game and long ball extended the lead. Laney Roos battled to a 2-run bloop single over short on the ninth pitch of her at bat to score a pair setting up a 2-run home run from Tristin Court that put the Demons up 5-1 in the second inning and chasing Waiters from the game.
 
The Cougars though chopped away at the lead in the bottom of the inning, scoring a run on an RBI groundout in the inning. The evened the game at five in the third after three of the first four batters of the inning reached base and all scored on another RBI groundout and two-out single up the middle.
 
For the next two innings NSU starter Kenzie Seely settled her way into the game keeping the Cougars at bay in the fourth and fifth innings. After not striking out more than three times in their previous nine games of the season, Seely punched out six Cougars in the game to keep the game tied at five going into the late innings. She retired seven straight batters from the end of the third through the fifth.
 
Livers slapped a single to right with one out in the sixth for NSU's second baserunner since the five-run second. She swiped her fourth bag of the season to reach scoring position. Livers trotted home easily after the first pitch to Roos who launched her first long ball of the season to straight-away center putting the Demons back on top 7-5.
 
A walk and infield single put the tying run on base for the Cougars with one out in the bottom of the inning. Base hits to right and left brought in both runners to immediately tie the game back up at seven going to the final inning.
 
The Demons were retired in order in the top of the inning and a leadoff walk, the sixth of the game, in the bottom of the inning put the winning run aboard. After advancing to third on a sacrifice and bunt single a low and hard line drive to left caromed off the glove of Ragsdale allowing the winning run to score to end the game.
 
The two- and three-hole batters Court and Roos combined to go 4-for-8 in the game with a pair of home runs and six RBI. Livers also picked up her first career RBI on the squeeze bunt in the second inning as she went 1-for-2 with two runs scored.
 
Game 2: Houston 13, NSU 0
 
With the walk-off win in the books the Cougars held their contagious nature of that offense into the second game of the day.
 
The first five batters of the game for Houston reached base, one on a fielder's choice, that included consecutive doubles to score the first two runs of the game. Another RBI double later in the inning made it a 4-0 game after the opening frame.
 
The Cougars scored in each of their four trips to the plate in the game with a run in the second, two more in the third and a six spot to pull away in the bottom of the fourth.
 
The Demons' lone hit of the game came on a surprise bunt single from Ashlyn Walker in the top of the second. Cougar pitcher Paris Lehman retired the next nine NSU batters in a row before a four-pitch walk to pinch hitter Lexie Roos in the top of the fifth.
 
Lehman had just one strikeout in the game, relying on her defense to retire the Demons on nine fly ball outs and five on the ground.