Northwestern State softball wins despite getting no-hit, thanks to 5 walks, HBP and error in first inning

No one ever said you needed a hit to win a softball game, as Northwestern State showed Saturday.

Across seven innings, the Demons were held hitless by Missouri State pitchers Brylee Brewster and Emily Korando, going 0-for-19 with one strikeout. At the end of the game, they celebrated one of the weirdest 5-3 wins you will ever see.

All five of NSU's runs were scored in the first inning. Brewster took the mound and couldn't find the strike zone, walking the first three batters and hitting the fourth with a pitch. She was then lifted for Korando, who got the Bears' first out on a fielder's choice at home, but then walked two straight batters and watched another score on an error.

NSU leadoff hitter JT Smith got that first walk, and explained after the game that making Brewster hit the strike zone was the team's plan from the start:

"We saw on film, watching it earlier in the day, that she had a little issues with control if she wasn't spot on, which — as a leadoff, it's really important to see some pitches. Luckily, I didn't have to swing the bat. She gave me four balls. I'll gladly take four balls, and [No. 2 hitter Sophia Livers] did the same thing behind me, and then [No. 3 hitter Sister Arnold] and [No. 4 hitter Brynn Daniel]. So I think it was just contagious, knowing what the people in front of you did and not trying to do too much in that situation."

Northwestern State got only four baserunners the rest of the game, on three walks and another hit-by-pitch. After the first-inning struggles, Koradis threw a full six innings, while NSU's Mattison Buster threw a seven-inning complete game with six hits and three runs (two earned).

She got some help at the end, with a diving catch from right fielder Mckenna Rinewalt. Had the ball landed, it would have likely been a one-run game with the tying run on second base, or possibly third.

Northwestern State was very aware of how odd a game it had just won.

For perspective, there are only six games in MLB history in which a team has won despite posting zero hits out of 326 no-hitters in league history.

Making the "achievement" even wilder is that Northwestern State blew out Arkansas-Pine Bluff 14-0 the previous day ... while allowing zero hits across five innings on a game that was called by run rule. 

So the program has won games while allowing zero hits and recording zero hits in back-to-back days.

Both games were part of the City of Lights Classic held at Northwestern State's Lady Demon Diamond in Natchitoches, Louisiana. It also posted a 6-1 loss to Missouri State on Friday and a 13-0 win over Pine Bluff in the second games of Friday and Saturday's doubleheaders.