MONROE – Two more light's out pitching performances coupled with aggressive baserunning and an extra-inning rally propelled Northwestern State to a pair of wins on Friday afternoon in ULM's Best of the Bayou weekend.
 
Maggie Darr set the tone for the day right away against Evansville by tossing three-hit shutout in a 3-0 win. Kenzie Seely followed by holding Sam Houston to one run through the first seven inning before a three-run outburst in extras pushed NSU to a 4-2 win in eight innings.

"We faced a lot of adversity last night and this morning and I challenged them and told them this, what we're doing and building, wasn't going to be easy," head coach Lacy Prejean said. "And that nothing great that happens is ever easy but it's going to be worth it. 
 
"Neither game was easy today but they stayed positive. The dugout was great. Everybody contributed somehow in a total team effort. That's what I was most proud of today."
 
Game 1: NSU 3, Evansville 0
 
It was an exceptionally good day for six-foot-plus Demons on the softball field with Maggie Darr dominating in the circle and Tristin Court coming through at the plate.
 
The 6-foot-3 imposing righty, Darr turned in perhaps her best pitching performance of the season tossing her first shutout of the year, the sixth of her career, allowing just three hits to the Aces while getting some key defensive plays behind her.
 
Court, the 6-foot third baseman, had a 3-for-4 day at the plate and drove in the Demons' second insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, the only RBI of the game, to help put the game away.
 
The Demons nearly put a run on the board in the first inning for the second straight game after getting hits from Taylor Williams and Court to start the game. The Demons' aggressive baserunning style nearly led Williams to score on a sacrifice fly to right but she was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. That aggression on the basepaths proved wildly beneficial later in the game.
 
After three scoreless innings and Darr escaping a first and third, one-out situation, Aly Delafield started the bottom of the fourth with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch sent her to third with a throwing error by the catcher allowing her to make her way the final 60 feet and put NSU up 1-0.
 
A leadoff walk to Laney Roos in the fifth, and two more free passes gave the Demons a bases loaded, one-out opportunity in the inning. The second wild pitch of the inning allowed Roos to score from third but NSU was not able to add to the 2-0 lead after that.
 
The Demons got the leadoff batter aboard for the fifth time in six innings with a Sophia Livers bunt single to start the sixth. A steal of second and third put her at third with two outs for Court's third hit of the day to bring her in easily from third base.
 
The Demons had eight hits in the game and drew four walks but left 10 runners on base in their fourth win this year where they scored three runs or fewer.
 
Freshman Cameron Curtis got her first career hit on a double in the fourth, an inning after her first outfield assist doubling off a runner at second on a line drive to left.
 
 
Game 2: NSU 4, Sam Houston 2 (8 inn.)
 
NSU starting pitcher Kenzie Seely and Sam Houston starter Amy Abke each worked in and out of varying degrees of trouble through the first four innings of the game. Each team left four or more baserunners on through four scoreless innings before the Bearkats broke the draw.
 
The only walk that Seely allowed in the game came to start the bottom of the fifth. A sacrifice bunt moved her to second setting up the ensuing RBI double to put the Bearkats ahead 1-0 in the late stages.
 
The Demons returned the favor in the next half inning with the exact same formula.
 
A two-out walk drawn by Cameron Curtis put the tying run on first base for Lexie Roos. Making her first start of the year in the game, Ross ripped the first pitch she saw down the right field line bringing Curtis flying around third to tie the game.
 
It was the second of three times in which she reached base in the game, drawing a walk in the second and another in the eighth. In her 11 total plate appearances so far this year, Rood has reached base seven times with two hits, four walks and a hit-by-pitch, a .700 on-base percentage.

"She's been having some great at bats and just finding ways to get on base," Prejean said. "She's been taking good pitches and everything that she did was positive and it created some momentum. She earned a start in the DP spot, had a great day today and definitely provided that spark with the hit to right field to score the run. I'm proud of her for continuing to work and continuing to believe. That's what it's going to take from everybody."
 
Roos' double helped to extend the game after Seely, who worked her way through early-game traffic to fully settle into the game. She nine straight at one point including cruising through six straight outs on just 18 pitches the second time through the lineup.
 
Neither team threatened to score in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings, the second this season for the Demons.
 
NSU began the eighth by moving the courtesy runner to third with a sacrifice bunt. High school teammates at North DeSoto a year ago, who won three state titles during their prep careers and faced a litany of pressure moments during those runs came through big this time on the collegiate level.
 
Aly Delafield put the Demons on top with a sharp single into left to score Tristin Court from third. After stealing second during her prep-now-college teammate Cameron Curtis' at-bat, she raced around third when Curtis traded places with her on her second double of the game and third overall on the day.
 
The Demons added one more insurance run when Curtis scored from second on a ground ball that never left the infield off the bat of Kat Marshall for a 4-1 lead going to the bottom of the inning.
 
A Sam Houston base hit began its half of the inning and NSU gladly traded the second out of the inning for a run before Seely closed the door with a swinging strikeout to end the game and pick up her fifth complete game of the season.
 
NSU hit four doubles in the game, two from Curtis and one each from both Roos sisters. It was the first time that the NSU twins both had an extra base hit in the same game.
 
The Demons wrap up the Best of the Bayou weekend with a morning doubleheader beginning at 9 a.m. against Sam Houston followed by their first meeting with Syracuse at 11:30 a.m.