NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State softball team opens Southland Conference tournament play on Thursday at 6:30 at the Lady Demon softball complex against the winner of No. 3 seeded Sam Houston State and No. 6 seeded Southeastern Louisiana.
 
The No. 2 Lady Demons (37-12 overall, 18-7 SLC) received a first round bye, along with first-seeded McNeese State. The Cowgirls (38-13 overall, 19-5 SLC) will face the winner of No. 4 Central Arkansas and No. 5 Lamar at four o'clock.
 
The most recent conference tournament championship for NSU came in 2002 when the Lady Demons hosted the tournament and received the No. 2 seed.
 
The second place regular season finish marks fifth year head coach Donald Pickett's best ending, along with the most wins of his career in a single season (37).
 
Juniors Brianna Rodriguez and Tara McKenney were selected first and second team All-Southland Conference, respectively, as they lead NSU from the plate, notching .376 averages. Rodriguez leads in doubles (18) and sits tied with Cassandra Barefield in RBI (44). McKenney has acquired the most hits (65) and triples (6), while picking up 22 RBI.
 
Second team All-Conference pick, Brittany Virgoe, trails the juniors with a .343 average, rocking 58 hits, 10 doubles, seven homers and 32 RBI.
 
Barefield, who was selected third team All-Conference, leads the league and the team in home runs with 14 on the season. The Houston, Texas, native, along with Rodriguez, broke into the NSU individual season record books for home runs this season.
 
Barefield currently ranks third in home runs, just two-shy of Shay Hunt's 16 homers recorded in the 2005 season. Barefield broke records of 10 homers in a single season set by Ginger Craig, Erin Mancuso and Margaret Patterson in 1985, 2002 and 2005, respectively.
 
Rodriguez holds down a tie for second place in doubles in the books with Becca Allen, who also recorded 18 doubles in 1997.
 
Second team All-Conference selections Kaylee Guidry (12-3) and Kylie Roos (14-3) finished the regular season with 1.45 ERAs, ranking third and fourth in the overall SLC standings.
 
In the conference-only standings, Guidry stands atop in ERA with a 1.02, followed by McNeese's Meagan Bond posting a 1.45 and Roos with a 1.62.
 
In the regular season, Guidry threw 92 solid innings, striking out 69 and allowing 78 hits. Roos struck out 133 and allowed 86 hits in 130.2 innings.
 
The Lady Demons recently defeated Sam Houston State 2-1 in the final three-game series of the season. NSU took games one and three of the weekend and clinched the No. 2 seed in the post season tournament as Cali Burke picked up her 17^th RBI of the season with a deep hit to center field to score Virgoe in the bottom of the ninth of game one.
 
NSU split a pair of games with the Lady Lions earlier this season, falling 3-2 in game one, and fighting back for a 4-1 victory in game two.
 
SHSU's Tori Benavidez claimed SLC Player of the Year and Hitter of the Year honors, while sisters Kirsten and Lauren Schwirtlich were named SLC Freshman of the Year and conference Newcomer of the Year. McNeese's Mike Smith was named Coach of the Year, and Central Arkansas' Kelsie Armstrong was selected SLC Pitcher of the Year.
 
In conjunction with the Southland Conference, the tournament will be sponsored in part by the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission. Shops, restaurants and other attractions are waiting for visitors in the Natchitoches historic district.
 
All tournament games will be streamed through the Southland Conference Digital Network, and the championship game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
 
All NSU games throughout the tournament will be broadcasted on the Demon Sports Network, flagshipped by 100.7 KZBL FM in Natchitoches.