GRAMBLING – Northwestern State wasted no time taking control Tuesday afternoon, scoring early and piling on behind a dominant pitching performance in a 10-0 run-rule win at Grambling.
 
For the seventh straight game, the Demons (12-14) scored in the first inning to take an early lead, they added four runs in both the second and third innings to secure their second run-rule win against the Tigers (7-12) this year.
 
The offensive support was plenty for Mattison Buster, who threw 4.0 innings of one-hit work before handing the ball to Erin Kirkland who struck out two of the three batters she faced to finish the game. Buster and Kirkland allowed just two baserunners in the game.
 
"We talked about how important it was for us to keep the momentum going heading into a big series this weekend," head coach Jenny Fuller said. "JT (Smith) set the tone by getting on base and whenever she does that it sets us up to have a great game."
 
Smith drew a five-pitch walk to open the game, and after a double steal of second and third with trailing runner Mckenna Rinewalt, came in to score on an RBI groundout to first to give NSU the 1-0 lead.
 
It is the 12^th time this year and the seventh time in a row the Demons scored a run in the first inning of a game.
 
Buster struck out the first two batters she saw in the bottom of the inning and sat down 10 of the first 11 she faced in the game. The only Tiger to reach base in the first three innings came on a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second.
 
By that time Grambling was down five as the Demons put up a four spot in the top of the second.
 
Another leadoff walk, this time to Riley Schwisow, set the stage for the 20^th big inning of the year for NSU. Schwisow scored from first on a double to the right center gap by Camryn Becnel, who came in two batters later on a base hit to center from Britt Bourgoyne. With runners at second and third, Rinewalt smashed a double to deep center to bring in two more runs.
 
The third inning for the Demons began as a near carbon copy of the second. Sister Arnold was hit by a pitch to start the inning and moved to third on an Aly Delafield double to the left field line.
 
A pair of balls on the infield led to back-to-back runs before a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly allowed two more runs to score and five the Demons a 9-0 lead through two and a half innings.
 
NSU turned a fourth straight leadoff free pass in the fourth inning, a Jones walk, into their 10^th run as she raced around to score on a pinch-hit single up the middle by Sara Kate Booker.
 
"When you can score pretty much every inning that helps the pitchers relax a little bit," Fuller said. "Everybody did a great job of contributing today, getting hits when we needed hits and taking advantage of missed pitches."
 
The Tigers lone hit of the day came in the bottom of the fourth as a ground ball caromed off the leg of Buster in the circle in the opposite direction of Becnel the charging short stop.
 
She got the next two batters out on bouncers to Britt Bourgoyne at second to complete her day's work on the fifth NSU shutout of the season. Kirkland needed just 13 pitches to strikeout a pair and record the final three outs of the game in the bottom of the fifth.
 
"Buster is kind of carrying the staff right now and she's doing a great job of it," Fuller said. "Erin needed that confidence builder there and came in and took care of business. Hopefully she can use that to create some momentum for herself going forward."
 
With her 10^th win of the season, Buster becomes the first pitcher since Maggie Darr in 2023 to record double-digit wins in a season.
 
Eight different players recorded hits in the game, led by Smith's 2-for-2 day with two runs scored and an RBI.
 
NSU returns home this weekend for a three-game Southland Conference series against McNeese beginning with a single game Friday at 6 p.m.