NATCHITOCHES – Two freshmen battled it out in the pitching circle all night in Northwestern State's final midweek matchup with Louisiana Tech on Tuesday.
 
Both NSU's Kaymie Chandler and Tech's Laney Johnson put up five scoreless innings to start the game, each scattering five hits during that time and stranding a handful of runners on each side.
 
Ultimately it was Tech (20-11) propensity for finding a way to win the close game, with four wins in one-run games during their current winning streak, that led to a 3-0 victory over the Demons (3-28).
 
It was the Demons 13^th loss this season by three runs or fewer and eighth in the past three and a half weeks.
 
"We're playing teams close, and we just can't put them away in the sixth or seventh inning," head coach Jenny Fuller said. "We're going toe-to-toe with them one through five. Kaymie did a great job, kept us in the game and then I think she just got a little tired.
 
"We're a team, where our hitting can't be off when our pitchers are on and our pitchers can't be off when our hitting is on. We have to be able to put it all together and we're just struggling a little bit to do that right now. "But if we keep playing hard, then I think eventually we'll get those wins."
 
Making her sixth start of the season, Chandler worked her way in, and out, of trouble through the first two innings before settling into the flow of the game.
 
She retired the first two batters in each of the first two innings before the Bulldogs picked up base hits to center to create and subsequent steals of second creating two-out run-scoring chances. Chandler got out of both of those innings with a fly ball to center and strikeout to strand four runners in the first two innings.
 
Using her defense throughout the night, getting just two strikeouts, both of Tech leadoff batter Alannah Heng, Chandler escaped another jam in the fourth inducing a ground ball to short that Camryn Becnel was able to tag the runner and fire to first for an inning-ending double play.
 
Chandler threw 5 1/3 innings in the game scattering six hits while allowing just one earned run with a pair of Ks and three walks.
 
Her ability put up zeros on the scoreboard was matched by Johnson for the Bulldogs.
 
Making her second start of the season against NSU, the North DeSoto product retired nine straight batters after allowing Sophia Livers and Cameron Curtis to reach base to start the bottom of the first inning.
 
DJ Lynch and Aly Delafield ended the stretch though in the fourth with back-to-back singles to start the inning. Three straight ground balls however led to two more runners left on base at the end of the frame.
 
"We have been leaving a lot of runners on base," Fuller said. "We did a lot of hitting yesterday, so I thought maybe it would be a little bit better, especially after we've seen that pitcher before, but, you know, that's the way offense goes. You'll leave runners on sometimes. We just got to keep chipping away."
 
An infield single to short and a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out for the Bulldogs in the sixth inning. Reliever Grace Ann McDonald induced two straight ground ball outs but it was enough for Tech to take the lead on the productive out at 1-0.
 
Tech added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh without the ball ever leaving the infield thanks to two hit batters, a bunt single, three stolen bases and two walks to create the three-run final.
 
A single and a walk brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning but a ground ball to second stranded the final two runners of the game for the Demons.