Northwestern State’s Maggie Darr named Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week

NATCHITOCHES – Following another dominant start and pair of stellar relief appearances this past weekend, Northwestern State’s Maggie Darr was named Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday. It is the first weekly honor of her career.

Darr was nearly untouchable for the Lady Demons in her lone start of the week against Purdue Fort Wayne. She struck out 14 batters, the most in a single game in more than 10 years by an NSU pitcher, in a 3-0 win. It was the fourth shutout of the season for the Lady Demon pitching staff and the second this year for Darr.

She allowed just two hits and got stronger as the game progressed. Between the third and sixth innings of the game, eight of the nine total outs were marked with the letter “K” by the Missouri City, Texas, native.

In her two relief appearances in the Chattanooga Challenge, she pitched four scoreless innings against Tennessee Tech to give the Lady Demons the chance at a comeback, striking out eight along the way, and threw the final two innings against Indiana State giving up just one hit.

In her three appearance across 14 1-3 innings she struck out 23 batters, walked just one and allowed just one run on five total hits for a 0.49 ERA with opponents hitting just .106 against her.

Through the first two weeks of the regular season, Darr leads the conference with a 0.58 ERA, .123 opponent’s batting average and a 0.46 WHIP. She is tied for second in total strikeouts with 32 behind teammate Sage Hoover who has 36.

Darr currently leads an NSU pitching staff, along with Hoover and Kenzie Seely, that hold the top three spots in the conference in ERA, opposing batting average and fewest runs and earned runs allowed.

The Lady Demons travel to Youngsville, La., for the annual Mardi Gras Mambo weekend hosted by Southeastern that begins on Friday with games against Lipscomb (2 p.m.) and Eastern Illinois (4 p.m.).