MONROE, La. -- The ULM softball team (9-4) began The Best on the Bayou Tournament with an offensive outburst and raced past Northwestern State (5-8) 11-3 on Thursday (Feb. 22) at the ULM Softball Complex.
ULM racked up 11 hits and three Warhawks swung for multi-hit games.
Jacelyn Buck went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate and drove in three to go along with a double.
Carys Platt and
Lourdes Bacon also recorded a pair of hits and each scored three runs.
After the Demons scored a run in the first, ULM scored four in the bottom half of the opening inning with two outs. Following a Bacon hit to left, NSU recorded two consecutive outs.
Meagan Brown delivered a clutch two-out RBI single that scored Bacon to even the score.
Andie Edwards walked and both her and Brown moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Platt singled home Brown on an infield hit that pulled ULM ahead. Buck added two more to ULM's count with a double to the right center field gap and completed the four-run Warhawk inning.
Victoria Abrams entered the game as a reliever and forced NSU to hit into a double play and kept the Demons off the board in the second. The Warhawks scored another run with two outs when
Morgan Brown smacked a double to right center that brought home Bacon. After a scoreless top half of the third,
Kelsey Giddens increased ULM's advantage to 6-1 with an RBI groundout that scored Platt.
After the Abrams sat the Demons down in order in the fourth, the Warhawks offense hung five runs and seized an 11-1 lead.
Meagan Brown walked with the bases loaded and Bacon scored.
Maryssa Zenzen followed with a hit to right that scored
Ashlan Ard. Buck collected her third RBI of the game when she drove in Brown on a 1-2 count.
Madelyn England wrapped up the big inning for the Warhawks with a two-out RBI double that scored Zenzen and Platt. The Demons added two in the fifth, but Abrams forced a flyout and wrapped up the win for ULM.
The ULM softball team continues play at The Best on the Bayou Tournament tomorrow with a game versus Syracuse at 6:30 p.m. from the ULM Softball Complex.