FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – After four consecutive games against ranked opponents, the Northwestern State softball team will use that experience to improve and move forward when it takes on Jackson State, Arkansas and Tennessee State this weekend at the Arkansas Fastpitch Invitational.

 

Fielding has been a strong point for NSU (2-8), as the team has been nearly flawless on defense. The Lady Demons have committed just one error in the last six games, and have a mere seven errors on the season, the fewest of any team in the Southland Conference. Their .965 team fielding percentage is also best in the SLC.

 

Pitching has also been on the upside, especially when it comes to strikeouts. As a staff, the Lady Demons average 9.44 strikeouts per game, which is best in the SLC by a wide margin.

 

In their latest game against No. 9 Baylor, Kelee Grimes stuckout six batters in five innings. Grimes has struckout 44 batters in 26.1 innings this season, and is second in the Southland Conference in the “K” category.

 

Brooke Boening is also a big contributor, as she has struckout 15 batters in eight innings on the year. She was perfect in her inning of relief on Wednesday in the second game against Baylor.

 

At the plate, Cassandra Barefield is on a modest two-game hitting streak after knocking one through in each game of the doubleheader against the Bears. She has reached base safely via hit or walk in four of her last six at bats.

 

Tara McKenney leads the team with a .310 batting average and .375 on base percentage. She's also a perfect 2-for-2 on stolen bases, and is posting an impressive 1.000 fielding percentage at shortstop.

 

The Lady Demons will kick off the invitational against JSU on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by a game against the Razorbacks at 3. NSU will square off with TSU on Saturday at 9 a.m., and the last two games are still to be determined based on all the results.