YOUNGSVILLE, La. – Another day in the 2026 Mardi Gras Mambo, another exceptional performance in a game two victory for Northwestern State.
After losing the opening game of the day to New Mexico (3-5) by the score of 6-4, junior transfer pitcher
Mattison Buster tossed the best game of her career in the nightcap, a 4-0 complete game shutout of Eastern Illinois (4-6), earning a second doubleheader split for the Demons (3-7) on the weekend.
The game was a pitcher's duel supported by defense through the first three innings as both Buster and EIU's Rylan Gick navigated a tight strike zone.
Buster walked two batters in the first inning, after striking out the first two batters of the game, eventually loading the bases, but induced an inning-ending ground ball to escape the early jam unscathed. The two walks in the first where her only two free passes of the night.
"I was feeling super good going into the game. I had a really good warm up, a lot of back up from all my catchers in the bullpen, shoutout to them," Buster said. "But mostly it was knowing that I have a really good team behind me and trusting the process and trusting what we're doing here."
Both pitchers relied on their defense to keep the game scoreless through three innings, but the walks that Buster was able to escape in the first, Gick was unable to dodge in the fourth.
Leadoff free passes to
Brynn Daniel and
Sister Arnold produced the first major scoring threat of the game for the Demons. With one out,
Aly Delafield shot a double into the left center gap to put NSU ahead 1-0. Five pitches later
Sophia Livers punched one into right for two more runs, giving the Demons a 3-0 going to the bottom of the fourth.
EIU put together a significant scoring threat in response the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out after a pair of hits and an error. Buster struck out the next batter on three pitches and got a tapper back to her in the circle for the final out to escape the pressure.
"I really just wanted to maintain my composure out there," Buster said. "Trust that if I did give up a hit, that the defense was going to get the ball in quick or make a play on it. Most of the time we made a play on it. It's good know that if I am getting squeezed, it's ok if I leave a ball more middle than normal and let somebody do something behind me."
The Panthers had just one more baserunner the rest of the game, a one-out single in the sixth, as Buster retired 11 of the final 12 batters she faced, bookending her gem with two strikeouts to end the game.
The 7.0 innings pitched matches a career high for Buster and her six strikeouts ties a season best set against New Mexico during opening weekend.
The win secured a second straight doubleheader sweep after the Demons saw their 3-0 lead against New Mexico slip away behind a four-run third from the Lobos.
Brynn Daniel got the Demons on the board in the top of the first with a two-run double down the left field line that immediately chased UNM starting pitcher McKenna Guest. Back-to-back hits from
Hayden Andrews, who stole second between the two singles, and
JT Smith in the second gave NSU the early three-run edge.
The Lobos cut into the lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the frame before a triple and an error in left set up the big inning. A sacrifice fly to center tied the game at three and a two-run double put the Lobos on top for good. Three of the four runs scored in the inning were unearned.
NSU put runners on base in each of the next three at-bats but were unable to bring them around to cut into the lead. After a one-out single pushed the Lobo lead to three in the fifth, the Demons cashed in a Smith leadoff double in the seventh but could not mount a two-out rally for the second straight game.
The Demons finish play in the Mardi Gras Mambo against St. Thomas (MN) on Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
