NATCHITOCHES, La.  – Conference leading Northwestern State slugged four home runs which accounted for all eight of its runs to defeat the Nicholls State University softball team, 8-0, in five innings on Saturday night at Lady Demon Park.
 
The Colonels (24-17, 10-9 SLC) and Northwestern State (26-14, 15-2 SLC) will wrap up the series on Sunday with a doubleheader scheduled for noon.  
 
Nicholls was held to just two hits in the loss, getting singles from Brooke Morris and Jessica Taylor. Both singled with one out in the first and third innings, respectively, but neither was able to reach scoring position.
 
Hannah Haydel (12-8) took the loss for the Colonels, allowing five earned runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings of work. Haydel kept the league's top slugging offense off the board through the first three innings, highlighted by a double play she turned in the second which nixed a leadoff double by NSU. But things took a turn for the worse in the next two frames as the Lady Demons showed off their power.
 
A hit-by-pitch and a Haydel error in the fourth led to a three-run home run by Cassandra Barefield, which put the Lady Demons up 3-0. With one out in the fifth, Brittany Virgoe crushed a two-run homer to left and the next batter, Kelly Kincannon, made it 6-0 with a solo shot to center. Jackie Johnson came in to pitch for Nicholls and hit her first batter before Brittney Jones hit a walk-off two-run homer to end the game in five innings.
 
Mikayla Brown (7-2) picked up the win for NSU, tossing all five innings and struck out three. Brown needed only 48 pitches in the complete game, aided by a three-pitch frame in the fourth.
 
The Lady Demons finished with eight hits, getting two each from Kincannon and Jones.