By Brad Welborn, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director; featured photo by Brad Welborn
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The youngest team in the country hit a growth spurt on Sunday afternoon.
A team of 17 underclassmen went toe-to-toe with Mississippi State, the 20th ranked team in the country, and came out the other side with 5-0 win, and a new level of confidence.
“As a coaching staff we are so proud of our team today because they showed so much heart and were really gritty,” first-year head coach Jenny Fuller said. “That started in the circle with Brooklynn (Stohler). She did really well against them yesterday, so they knew she was going to get the ball again. We developed a really good game plan and executed that plan. I’m so proud of our team for really believing that could do it the whole game.”
The win against a ranked opponent is the first for Northwestern State softball since a 4-1 victory against then No. 24 ranked Cal State Fullerton in 2004.
It is also the first win against an SEC foe since the Demons (3-17) took a 1-0 shutout victory against Mississippi State in 2016. NSU has won three of the previous four overall meetings with the Bulldogs after Sunday’s result.
One day after holding the Bulldogs (18-3) to only three runs in a one-run loss and tossing her sixth complete game of the season, freshman Brooklynn Stohler took the ball again on Sunday brimming with confidence.
“I had a game plan going into the game,” Stohler said. “I knew that in order to keep them off the board I would have to stick to it and trust my defense. I am so proud of them. The outfield was a no-fly zone and there were no errors. It wouldn’t have been possible without everyone.”
Stohler’s plan of pitching to contact and allowing her defense to work behind her worked exactly as intended throughout the entire game. The Bulldogs tallied just one hit, a leadoff double from Sierra Sacco in the first inning, through the first five innings of the game.
From the end of the first through the fourth, Stohler retired nine straight State batters before surrendering just the second baserunner on a walk. She promptly got the next two hitters out on fly balls to the outfield and retired the next five in a row before allowing another hit.
Stohler induced 17 fly ball outs in the game, retiring 24 of the 27 total batters she faced on a supremely efficient 81 pitches to earn her first career shutout.
Her dominance in the circle was supported by an offense the took advantage of an early mistake to gain the lead and one that broke the back of the homestanding Bulldogs late.
A throwing error and a wild pitch in the top of the second put speedy Cameron Curtis at third base with two outs. After a four-pitch walk to Cash Herber, another ball out of the zone bounced away from the catcher allowing Curtis to slide in safely for the 1-0 lead.
The Demons held that edge behind Stohler and the defense’s efforts until some late-game theatrics extended the lead.
With pinch runner Aly Delafield standing at first base with one out, Savannah Coleman drove a ball deep into the left center gap just beyond the reach of the diving center fielder. Off with the contact, Delafield raced around third executing a perfect slide sneaking her hand under the tag of the catcher for a rally starting RBI double.
“Savannah had looked good in her previous at bats and really putting the bat on the ball well,” Fuller said. “So, I had the utmost confidence in her in that at bat. To be able to score some insurance runs to take a little bit of pressure off of Brooklynn when she went back out there was huge.”
Curtis followed with a sharp RBI single through the left side and Sara Kate Booker drew a walk putting two more runners on base with still only one out. Camryn Becnel advanced the runners 60 feet on a sacrifice bunt setting up Sophia Livers’ two-run single through the right side that gave the Demons a five-run cushion.
The only batter to make solid contact against Stohler in the game, Sacco, started the bottom of the inning with a double off the wall in right. A walk put another runner aboard and initiated the first visit from Fuller to the pitching circle in the game.
“After that big inning I knew that I had to stay locked in on defense,” Stohler said. “Coach Fuller came to the mound and asked me what my plan was for this batter and what I wanted to throw. Holding them that inning was huge and gave us more energy.”
The next three batters went down in order on fly balls, squashing any momentum the Bulldogs thought about gaining.
Stohler allowed just one more hit, a harmless two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, before inducing a line drive out to Riley Schwisow at third base securing the first signature win for Fuller and the Demons.
“This can definitely give us momentum especially heading into conference,” Fuller said. “This is a great way to finish the non-conference season. Knowing you can beat the No. 20 ranked team at their place that we can probably beat anybody out there.”
Livers and Curtis each had a pair of hits in the game and had a part in all five runs the Demons scored in the game.