BEAUMONT, Texas – Northwestern State rode another strong start from Mattison Buster and a late offensive surge to a game-one win, but were unable to slow Lamar’s bats in the nightcap as the teams split Tuesday’s Southland Conference softball doubleheader.
NSU looks to secure its third road conference series win of the season today at 2 p.m. with ESPN+ coverage and a broadcast on KZBL-FM Radio 100.7 in Natchitoches.
The Demons (22-22 overall, 11-9 in the Southland) took the opener 6-2 before falling 10-5 in Game 2, despite pounding out 19 hits Tuesday, six of them going for extra bases, and scoring 11 total runs.
“I was happy with how our offense performed today, and (Mattison) Buster did a great job in the circle in that first game,” head coach Jenny Fuller said. “Glad to come out of today with a split, and think if our offense can do that again tomorrow, we have a chance to take the series.”
Buster was perfect the first time through the lineup, retiring the first 10 batters she faced in a row before surrendering a one-out walk in the fourth inning. The no-hitter was broken up two batters later on a single to center, but Buster stranded both runners to keep Lamar off the board.
The Demon offense gave Buster the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-out rally. Makynlie Jones and Aly Delafield reached on back-to-back hits giving NSU a first-and-third scenario. The Demons deployed a double steal, forcing a bad throw to third that skipped to the outfield allowing Jones to score.
Delafield was at the center of the Demons’ next run scoring chance in the sixth as she followed a Brynn Daniel double to left center with a runner on first with a two-bagger of her own to right to give NSU a 3-0 lead.
The Cardinals finally got to Buster in the bottom of the inning, pushing across two runs on a single to center and a wild pitch, cutting the lead down to one heading into the final frame.
NSU’s offense though had found its stride and broke the game open with a crooked number inning, with Daniel providing the decisive blow, a no-doubt three-run home run off the scoreboard in left, her second long ball of the season, making it a 6-2 NSU lead.
The Demons carried that offensive momentum into the nightcap, scoring in the first inning for the 20th time this season. Northwestern opened a 4-1 lead in its first three at-bats before Lamar scored four to answer the Demons’ three to take the lead in the third. They stretched the lead with two more in the fourth and scored at least one run in each of their final five trips to the plate in the game.
The Demons recorded nine total hits with six coming off the bats of Smith and Daniel in Game 2. Both came to the plate in the final two innings with chances at four-hit games but were turned away in their final at-bats.
“I really thought they were dialed in at the plate from the middle of that first game on,” Fuller said. “Brynn really secured the game for us with that home run. We felt like she was due for a big hit like that and she came through. JT got things going too, had three hits in the second game, so really happy with the offense today.”
With three runs scored on the day, JT Smith became just the second NSU player in the past 10 seasons to score 40 runs in a season and the first since Cayla Jones scored 41 in 2018 and 2019.
Buster (19-10) is one win away from becoming the fifth 20-game winner in the Southland Conference since 2021 and the first Demons pitcher with 20 wins in a season since Amie Ford tied the single-season record with 21 in 2004.
Daniel went 5-for-8 on the day with a home run, two doubles, five RBI and scored three runs. She was part of a the 4-5-6-7 hitters in the NSU lineup on the day that had a combined 12 hits.
