The McNeese State softball team didn’t need much hitting to score Friday night at Cowgirl Diamond as it defeated Northwestern State 8-0 in five innings.
The Cowgirls (24-11, 10-0 Southland Conference) tallied five runs in the first three innings despite having one hit against NSU’s pitching staff.
McNeese loaded the bases in each of the first two innings but walked away with just a run each time.
“Obviously we would have liked to drive in some runs with runners in scoring in position,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “But all in all I think the kids competed well at the plate. We drew a lot of walks. We just couldn’t get the timely hits early in the game.”
While the offense struggled, the defense thrived.
Starting pitcher Rachel Smith needed five pitches to put the Demons (13-21-1, 3-7) down in order and get through her first inning, setting the tone for the rest of the game defensively for the Cowgirls.
“It’s really easy to pitch whenever you have a great defense behind you,” Smith said. “We know that our offense is going to score runs, and they did.
“Having a short inning like that is a great feeling, and it creates momentum going into the next inning.”
Smith (8-5) gave up two hits in five innings and struck out three with no walks.
The Cowgirls seemed to get their bats involved in the fourth inning when they brought a pair of runners around the bases on three hits for a 7-0 lead.
Right fielder Justyce McClain extended her hitting streak to 13 games in her final at-bat when a groundball found its way through the infield for a single.
Junior third baseman Erika Piancastelli put the game away during the next at-bat when she belted a hard line drive in the left-center field gap that scored McClain to end the game via the mercy run rule.
“You know Erika is going to come clutch in those situations,” McClain said. “So for me, I just wanted to get on base and do what I could, knowing my team is going to back me up.”
The Cowgirls and Demons will return to action at 1 p.m. today with the first game of a doubleheader.
Landreneau said in order to finish Saturday still undefeated in SLC play, the Cowgirls need to remain focused on playing their brand of softball.
“Our focus, as always, is going to be on us,” Landreneau said. “We just have to execute our game plan. Our pitcher need to attack the strike zone and our hitters need to find good pitches to hit. … We want to win every single inning we play.”
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