CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – After back-to-back home runs by Brianna Rodriguez and Cassandra Barefield sparked a 3-0 defeat of Jackson State on Wednesday, the Northwestern State softball team travels to Southland Conference foe Texas A&M Corpus Christi for a three-game series beginning on Saturday at one o'clock.
 
NSU is looking to use momentum from Wednesday's non-conference game as it visits the Islanders, who have struggled so far and are sitting in last place early in the league race.  
 
The Lady Demons (21-6, 2-3) split games with the Islanders (6-21, 1-5) in the 2012 season, and currently trail them 5-13 in the all-time series.
 
Juniors Tara McKenney and Rodriguez, and sophomore Brittany Virgoe lead from the plate with batting averages of .388, .386 and .383, respectively. 
 
McKenney, who's had her best season yet on the bases with five triples, leads the SLC in triples and is tied with Sam Houston State's Tori Benavidez for third in hits with.
 
Rodriguez ranks second nationally, and leads the conference with 14 doubles this season. Her .54 doubles per game trail  Texas Southern's Thomasina Garza's .56 doubles per game.
 
Kylie Roos (7-1) and Kaylee Guidry (5-1) lead from the circle with 1.32 and 1.84 ERAs, respectively. The two have combined to allow just 27 runs this season.
 
Roos leads the SLC in hits allowed (28), runs allowed (12), earned runs allowed (11) and doubles allowed (1). The senior has struck out 72 batters in 58.1 innings.
 
Guidry has thrown 49.1 innings in her first season with the Lady Demons, striking out 28 and holding opponents to a .247 batting average.
 
The Islanders are led by senior Meagan McKinney, who posts a .311 average from the plate, putting the ball into play 23 times. Sophomore Mickayla Cochran has stepped up to bat 86 times for 26 hits and a .302 average.
 
From the circle, junior Constance Brandenburg (4-10) has thrown for 78.2 inning, allowing 96 hits and 67 runs, while striking out 37.
 
The Lady Demons travel to Louisiana Tech for their fifth meeting with the Lady Techsters this season, before returning home to host Lamar on Friday. First pitch is slated for four o'clock at the Lady Demon Diamond.