Sometimes one inning can make all the difference in a game, and that was the case for the Northwestern State softball team in Saturday’s Southland Conference series finale against Incarnate Word.
Trailing 2-0 after three innings of weak contact and just one hit, the Demons (21-21, 10-8) strung together five hits and had six straight batters reach, all with two outs, to push across three runs in a 3-2 win.
The victory avoided a series sweep by UIW, second in the SLC standings. The Cardinals posted wins of 11-1 and 3-1 in Friday’s doubleheader, and started Saturday’s game with a quick lead and silencing NSU’s bats.
“It is frustrating to stay patient, but they did a good job of not letting it get to them, staying the course and trusting the process, the game plan and ultimately getting the job done,” head coach Jenny Fuller said.
Making her second start of the series, UIW (27-15, 12-6) pitcher Bella Mitchell was dominant the first time through the Demon order. She retired the first eight batters she faced before Britt Bourgoyne reached on an infield single with two outs in the third. Through the first 3 2/3 innings, NSU put just one ball into the outfield and trailed 2-0.
UIW scored first for the third time during the weekend, using a one-out double down the left field line and a ground ball to short in the top of the third to take a two-run lead, the only blemishes on Demon ace Mattison Buster’s line.
After a bounce-back shutout inning in the top of the fourth, the Demon bats received the jolt they were looking for in the bottom half.
“We came in from defense after the top of the inning and Coach Brad (Fuller) challenged us to compete at the plate and tried to light a fire under us,” Aly Delafield said. “I took that as needing to do something different but not to stress, stay calm and do what you know how to do. After Brynn (Daniel) got that hit, I said this is it, it’s go time.”
Following two quick groundouts to the right side, Daniel lined NSU’s hardest-hit ball to that point into left field for a base hit, just the team’s second hit of the day, and sparked the rally.
Delafield doubled to the left-centerfield wall three pitches later, bringing Daniel all the way around to score. Delafield came home on a Sister Arnold single up the middle to tie the game and chase Mitchell.
Riley Schwisow followed with a sharp single to left and Sara Kate Booker worked a walk to load the bases. On an 0-2 count, Bourgoyne delivered her second hit of the game, driving in Arnold to give NSU a 3-2 lead.
The Demons sent all nine batters to the plate in the inning, and although they left the bases loaded, the three-run rally was all Buster needed over the final three innings.
The ace worked quickly in the fifth, needing just five pitches to get through the top of the Cardinal order and engaging her patented shutdown status when the Demons have the lead.
Buster allowed just one hit and a walk to Victoria Altamirano, the Southland Conference’s top hitter over the past three seasons, across the final three innings, retiring every other batter she faced to earn her 18th win of the season.
“Her confidence is through the roof and it kind of spreads through the whole team,” Delafield said. “I have all the confidence in the world in her. I know she’s going to go out there, compete and do her absolute best to get us out of any situation. She’s such a competitor, and it’s really fun playing with her.”
Buster held UIW, the conference’s top offensive team, to five hits, its fewest in a Southland game this season, and two runs, matching its lowest output in league play.
She is now tied for the eighth-most wins in a single season by a Demon pitcher and has the most since Amanda Glenn in 2007.