NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State left a tough opening weekend in the dust on Tuesday night with a dominant and convincing 12-0 run-rule win against Grambling in the 2026 home opener.
Three walks to start the bottom of the first inning and another near grand slam opened the floodgates for the Demons (1-5) who batted around and scored seven runs in the first inning to cruise to the five-inning win against the visiting Tigers (1-4).
"Mattison (Buster) came out and set the tone with a really good first inning. JT (Smith) set the tone for the offense by getting on base and we kept it rolling from there," head coach
Jenny Fuller said. "It was definitely a good bounce-back win for us."
With bases loaded in the first,
Sister Arnold was robbed of her first Demon home run as the ball bounced in and out of the glove of left fielder Kamryn Broussard as she extended over the wall. The ball bounced back into play for a stand-up double, scoring all three runners and setting the Demons out on a hitting and scoring parade.
Arnold's double was the first of five in the game for the Demons, and two RBI doubles in the opening inning.
Peyton Young delivered a run-scoring two-bagger of her own and Smith, who started the inning with a walk, drove in a run on a base hit to center.
The Demons sent 10 batters to the plate and scored seven runs setting the stage for the needed bounce-back win.
Smith,
Britt Bourgoyne and
Makynlie Jones hit three straight doubles in the third inning bringing in five combined runs on three swings. Bourgoyne and Jones each picked up two RBI on their swings, stretching the lead to 12 as NSU sent nine to the plate in the inning.
Jones added to her team lead with her fourth double and three more RBI on the night, pushing her season total to seven through the first six games.
"It felt really good to play like we did tonight," Jones said. "I trust my team. I know that we've worked hard. I don't think that we played terrible this past weekend. We showed some good signs and it just took a minute for us to get used to each other.
"I'm feeling good at the plate right now. I'm just trusting what I know I do best and trusting the process, knowing what I have to offer."
Grambling only had multiple base runners in one inning, the fourth, following two straight singles, but Buster induced an easy ground ball out to second and one back to her in the circle to squash a potential threat and preserve the shutout.
Buster earned her first win as a Demon tossing 4.0 shutout innings allowing three hits with a pair of strikeouts.
The 12 runs scored by the Demons are the most in a game under Fuller and the most in a game since scoring 15 at Memphis in 2023. Three players, Smith, Bourgoyne and Young, had two-hit games with eight different players recording a hit in the game.
"I think we can use this for some really good momentum going into the weekend," Fuller said. "Getting that first win under our belt we can relax a little bit, keep working hard and go out and win some games this weekend."
The Demons play in the Mardi Gras Mambo in Youngsville, La., this weekend, beginning with a 2 p.m. Friday doubleheader against SIUE and Georgia State.
