By: Brittany Russ, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
BATON ROUGE – The third-seeded Northwestern State softball team will open the 2013 NCAA Baton Rouge regional tournament hosted by LSU, with second-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday at three o'clock at Tiger Park.
All NSU games throughout the tournament will be broadcasted on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL FM in Natchitoches.
The Lady Demons (40-13) earned the program's fourth trip to the tournament after defeating Sam Houston State in a 5-4 nail-biter in the Southland Conference tournament championship on Saturday. Despite falling 4-7 to Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the Ragin' Cajuns (43-13) finished the season ranked No. 17 in the latest Ratings Percentage Index.
NSU and Louisiana-Lafayette have faced eight common opponents this season, including Western Kentucky, Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech.
Against WKU, the Lady Demons prevailed with the 5-3 win.
NSU came out on top of a 10-5 triumph over Mississippi State, while the Ragin' Cajuns defeated the Bulldogs 9-1.
Junior
Tara McKenney leads NSU from the plate hitting .369 with 69 hits, including a team-high seven triples, giving her a spot in the individual season record book for the Lady Demons, just three triples behind Annie Johnson's 2002 record. McKenney also sits sixth in hits and fifth in runs scored.
The Red Oak, Texas, native is currently on a 13-game hitting streak after notching one hit in Saturday's title game.
With a .359 average,
Brianna Rodriguez sits just behind McKenney, notching 61 hits while leading the team in doubles (20) and RBI (46). Her doubles mark sits second and her RBI ranks third in the individual season record book, just one RBI ahead of
Cassandra Barefield.
Barefield is currently hitting .325 with 50 hits, including 14 homers, which also ranks in the Lady Demon record book.
Senior
Kylie Roos (17-4) finished the regular season at 17
th in the nation with a 1.47 ERA, allowing 38 runs, 32 of them earned, in 152.2 innings in the circle.
Kaylee Guidry (12-3) has thrown 97 solid innings, striking out 74 batters and allowing 84 hits this season.
The Ragin' Cajuns are led by Sarah Draheim with a .423 average notching 69 hits, including 15 homers and a team-high 63 RBI. Nerissa Myers sits just behind Draheim with a .417 average, 45 hits and 37 RBI in just 38 games.
From the circle, Jordan Wallace (28-7) garners a 1.89 ERA while allowing 69 runs, 58 of them earned in 214.1 innings. Wallace has sat down 331 batters and allowed 180 hits.
The winner of tomorrow's contest will face the winner of first-seeded LSU vs. fourth-seeded Central Connecticut on Saturday at 12:00, while the losers will return to Tiger Park at three o'clock Saturday evening for an elimination game.