NATCHITOCHES – A low-scoring game through four innings gave way to a late Baylor offensive surge in an 11-2 win against Northwestern State on Tuesday night.
 
A Riley Schwisow solo home run in the bottom of the second inning evened the game at one run each as the Demons (3-21) and starting pitcher Brooklynn Stohler kept Baylor (12-13) in check through nearly five full innings.
 
A critical error with the bases loaded allowed two runs to score, opening the door for a string of hits in runs to follow in the final two innings of the game. Baylor put up 10 runs in the final three innings, including a five-run seventh, creating the deceiving final score.
 
"We hung with them for the first five innings and had some uncharacteristic errors that they capitalized on," head coach Jenny Fuller said. "With a good team, if you let your guard down, then they're just going to run with it, and that's what they did
 
"I thought Brooklyn kept us in the game early on, proud of her for that. We scored early on and we had some hits, which I was proud of the team for that, but we just got a play the whole seven innings."
 
The Bears needed just two batters to take the lead on NSU in the top of the first. A leadoff walk and steal of second allowed the first run to score easily on a softly hit sinking line drive up the middle from Shaylon Govan.
 
The lead only held for an inning as Schwisow launched her second home run of the season to deep left beyond the outfield stands with one out in the bottom of the second, tying the game at one.
 
After allowing the RBI single in the first, the Demons freshman Stohler, making her conference-leading 17^thstart of the season, worked her way through three straight scoreless innings. Four strikeouts in the first two innings and a lot of her patented soft contact limited the Bears to only one hit, a well-placed bunt single in the third, from the second through the fourth.
 
Just Baylor's third hit of the game started the top of the fifth, and following a walk and second base hit, a pop up to shallow center appeared to be a critical second out. The misplay of the ball allowed two runs to score.
 
Stohler got out of the inning with no more damage done, but the error created the first crack in the Demons' bid for an upset win.
 
Three straight hits started the sixth inning with the first and third both leaving the ballpark, stretching the lead to 6-1. A pair of RBI doubles in the seventh, one coming with the bases loaded, turned the game into the one-sided score that ended the night.
 
While the Bears knocked around 11 hits on the night, the Demons did just as much damage in the hit column on the evening with nine, but not enough with runners in scoring position.
 
In her first game back after an injury, senior Bailie Ragsdale picked up a pair of hits in the game, both leadoff singles to start innings. The Demons had two hits in three different innings in the game but were unable to score in those instances.
 
Peyton Peck started the sixth with a base hit through the left side, and after a walk and productive out, scored on a Cash Herber sacrifice fly to left for NSU's second run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.
 
The nine hits on the night are the second most in a single game this year for NSU. They have reached 10 hits twice this year, against Alabama State and Memphis.
 
Despite the result the first meeting between Fuller and former coach Glenn Moore provided a memorable night for the first-year Demon coach.
 
"It was definitely special for me," Fuller said. "It's not only Coach Moore, and then his son is helping us in our dugout. But, we love his wife, Janice and then I played for Britni Newman, too. She was my pitching coach and a lot of what I know about pitching is because of her.
 
And then Meagan Diaz on the staff, I played with her. So, it's really cool just to have them here and they said such great things about our facility upgrades and they're happy for us and know that we'll get this thing going."