RUSTON, La. – Northwestern State fell into an early hole on Tuesday, one it was not able to escape from in a 12-3 run-rule loss at Louisiana Tech.
 
Four walks and an error in the bottom of the first inning led to six runs. All four free passes came in to score in the inning as the Bulldogs (9-2) needed just two hits, a pair of RBI singles, to jump out to a commanding lead. NSU (3-9) put up three runs in the fourth but it was not enough to extend the game.
 
"Obviously not the start we wanted, the walks and free passes really put us in a tough spot early and you can't do that against good teams," head coach Jenny Fuller said. "I was proud of the way we kept competing. 
 
"We responded with some better at-bats later in the game and put a few runs on the board. That kind of fight is definitely something we can build on moving forward. Now it's about cleaning up the things that put us in that hole to begin with."
 
The Bulldogs sent 11 batters to the plate in the first and followed that with nine in the second, cashing in two more free passes early in the frame, a walk and hit batter, on a three-run home run off the bat of Reese Torres.
 
All told, six batters reached base without the benefit of a hit and came in to score in the first two innings for the Bulldogs.
 
Britt Bourgoyne picked up the Demons' first hit of the game, coming with two outs in the third, sparking some life in the NSU bats. 
 
Back-to-back hits from Mckenna Rinewalt and Brynn Daniel started the fourth inning, leading to the first run. Head's up baserunning from the freshman Rinewalt put her at third after a shallow pop up behind first base. That move allowed her to score on a wild throw in from center that got away from the catcher.
 
The Demons added on with another set of consecutive hits, each coming with an RBI. Aly Delafield shot a base hit to left and Hayden Andrews' lined her first triple of the year down the right field line to score pinch-runner Sara Kate Booker from first.
 
The Demons strung together four of their five hits in the game during the fourth inning, producing their seventh big (three-plus runs) offensive inning of the year. Brynn Daniel, who lined a ball of the pitcher in the inning, extended her reached-base streak to 10 games, one shy of matching her career high.
 
NSU got the first two on again in the fifth thanks to back-to-back errors at second base on two pop ups, putting runners at first and third. After two defensive miscues from the Bulldogs, it was a spectacular play from outfielder Elana Hang that prevented the Demons from scoring and potentially extending the game.
 
On a fly ball to medium deep center off the bat of Rinewalt, a perfect one-hop strike to the plate cut down the attempt to score from Bourgoyne for a momentum-killing double play. A fly ball to right ended the game and the night for the Demons.
 
NSU returns to action on Friday against Gardner-Webb at 12 p.m. to start the Jacksonville State Tournament in Jacksonville, Ala.