AUSTIN, Texas – Another dominating pitching performance from Maggie Darr helped Northwestern State earn a split of its first two games of the Longhorn Invitational on Friday.
 
For the second weekend in a row Darr (4-4) tossed a three-hit shutout as the Demons (10-11) won in extra innings 1-0 against Hofstra to open the day. NSU lost the second game of the day against No. 2 ranked Texas 10-2 in five innings.
 
Game 1: NSU 1, Hofstra 0 (8)
 
In a pitcher's duel to open the Longhorn Invitational on Friday morning, Darr followed her shutout performance a week ago against Evansville with a slightly more impressive one against Hofstra.
 
After escaping the only real scoring threat from the Pride through the first seven innings on a double play for the stellar Demon defense, Darr gave up just one more hit over the final six innings of the game.
 
Hofstra managed just four baserunners from the third through the seventh with Darr retiring eight straight at one point during that stretch. The Pride did not have a runner reach third base after the third until the extra-inning courtesy runner was moved there on a sacrifice bunt to open the eighth inning.
 
"I feel like I got more settled in and found the umpire's zone later in the game," Darr said. "Ashlyn (Walker) worked really hard behind the plate for me and got me some calls that could've gone either way. My defense was super strong behind me and had my back all game which made it even easier to attack batters and get ahead."
 
Hofstra's Julia Aspel worked around three NSU hits through the first four inning to keep the game scoreless before the first major scoring threat of the game for the Demons came in the fifth.
 
Bailie Ragsdale reached on an infield single, and on a Sophia Liver bunt single, moved to third with one out. Livers swiped her eighth bag of the season on eight attempts putting two runners in scoring position before a walk to Taylor Williams loaded the bases. Two straight fly outs however ended the inning as Aspel escaped the jam with no damage.
 
NSU picked up just one more hit the rest of the game, a two-out single up the middle from Livers in the bottom of the seventh.
 
NSU's moment of the game came in the top of the eighth inning after the Pride moved their courtesy, and go-ahead runner to third with one out. Looking to get the second out of the inning without allowing the run to score, Darr took matters into her own hands.
 
She quickly got ahead with a first-pitch strike and to an 0-2 advantage in the count after a foul ball. The Hofstra nine-hole, slapper fouled off five total pitches in the at-bat before Darr won the battle with a swing-and-miss strike for her fifth K of the game.
 
"We knew she was fast and liked to just poke at the ball and run down the line," Darr said. "We kept working her outside and moving it further out slowly throughout her at bat. I had full confidence in my defense and just kept going right at her. Eventually she missed but being able to attack her straight on really benefitted us."
 
Her five strikeouts in the game moved Darr into the career top 10 list in program history with 261 in just over two full seasons of work.
 
The Demons did not need a hit in order to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the inning. A sacrifice bunt put Taylor Williams at third base with no outs as Laney Roos reached on an error on the play. A wild pitch allowed Williams to slide in safely giving the Demons their first walk-off win since 2022.
 
Game 2: Texas 10, NSU 2 (5)
 
The Longhorns showed their second ranked team and second ranked offensive unit by striking in the bottom of the first with a triple and home run from consecutive batters to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Demons were able to even the score in the next have inning by putting the ball in play and forcing the Longhorns to make plays. Something they failed to do on multiple occasions.
 
Three straight batters reached for NSU with one out in the second to load the bases. Ashlyn Walker got the first of her two hits in the game on the first pitch of her at-bat. Aly Delafield was hit by a pitch and Bailie Ragsdale reached on an infield single.
 
A sharp single off the glove of the first baseman from Sophia Livers, her third overall on the day, drove in a run from third to cut the lead in half and keep the bases loaded. Taylor Williams followed with a tapper to short but a wild throw kept the inning alive and allowed the second run to score tying the game at two.
 
Kenzie Seely kept Texas off the board in the bottom of the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but the Horns eventually responded in the third.
 
A walk and base hit put the first two batters on base for a two-out double to left center that made it a 4-2 game. An NSU throwing error not only kept the final out from being recorded but also allowed another run to come across to make it 5-2 after three innings.
 
Texas scored all five of their runs in the bottom of the fourth with two outs as well, three of which coming on one swing on a home run by the national leader in the category in Resse Atwood, to reach the eight-run advantage.
 
NSU continues play in the Longhorn Invitational on Saturday evening when it faces Tarleton State at 5:30 p.m.