It was only a matter of time before the Northwestern State softball team got the clutch hit it needed, and it happened at the most dramatic stage of Saturday’s Southland Conference series finale with visiting Nicholls at the Demon Diamond.
Down a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, NSU’s Sister Arnold delivered the go-ahead two-run double that gave the Lady Demons (24-27 overall, 13-14 SLC) the lead in a 5-3 comeback victory against Nicholls (29-21, 17-10) to cap the regular season.
“I think we felt like we’ve had our backs against the wall the past couple weeks not coming through with timely hitting,” head coach Jenny Fuller said. “Today we came out and said let’s play loose and have fun. I think we did that, and that’s what led to the result.”
The Senior Day win secured the No. 6 seed for NSU in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament, sending the Demons to the Lake Charles bracket, where they will face, for the fourth straight game, the No. 3 seed Colonels Thursday night at 7 in the four-team double-elimination pod.
Nicholls swept Friday’s doubleheader with Northwestern, 6-0 and 15-6. But Saturday’s game was a nailbiter throughout.
The late-game dramatics were necessary after Nicholls scored single runs in each of the first three innings. An unearned run in the first gave the Colonels the lead, which they extended in the second with a two-out RBI single.
NSU’s response against Colonel ace Molly Yoo came in the bottom of the second after a screaming leadoff double from Brynn Daniel down the left-field line. She scored on an opposite-field single from Makynlie Jones. After a pair of fielder’s choice groundouts put runners at the corners, Riley Schwisow baited an errant throw at second, allowing Aly Delafield to score and tie the game at 2-2.
The Colonels moved back ahead after a leadoff double of their own in the third, but from that point forward, Demons’ ace Mattison Buster put the dynamic Nicholls lineup in check, setting up the late-inning heroics.
She tossed four straight scoreless innings, stranding runners in scoring position in each frame.
Northwestern got a spark in the sixth as Jones and Delafield produced base hits to open the frame. A wild pitch put two runners in scoring position, setting up Arnold’s clutch double to right-center on a 3-2 count.
“I just wanted to see a good pitch and hit a good pitch,” Arnold said. “Coach Brad (Fuller) talked to me before the at-bat and just told me to believe that I could hit it, and you will. Yesterday I struck out with the bases loaded and that was not good for our team. So today I just wanted to be better than the day before. That’s what it’s all about, improving from what you did before because that’s all you can control.”
After a frustrating strikeout with runners in scoring position to end the fourth, Smith came through twice for her team in the final frames. A sacrifice fly to center gave the Demons an insurance run in the sixth, and a critical catch in the seventh on a shallow fly ball gave them the second out.
“I told her after that strikeout that you can’t let that affect you,” Fuller said. “That we’re going to need you. You’re going to come up again, and she came through at the plate and made an amazing catch that I don’t know if many centerfielders make.”
The drama was only beginning, however, as the Colonels were able to escape the sixth with only three runs scoring and put the first two batters of the seventh in scoring position with a single and double.
A visit to the circle from Fuller settled Buster and set up three of the biggest outs of the season for the Demons.
“When I go out there I just try to see what she’s thinking and what pitches she’s comfortable throwing,” Fuller said. “Really just trying to give a reset for her and the defense. We work well together, so usually we come up with a game plan, and it worked out for us today.”
Buster picked up her sixth strikeout of the game, matching a season high, for the first out, got a shallow fly to center that Smith tracked down, and induced the final out on a grounder to short.
The win was the 21st of the season for Buster, tying the school record for a Demon pitcher held by Amie Ford (2004), Crista Miller (2002) and Nancy Percle (1990).
