CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Coming off a tough loss to top-30 Arkansas Wednesday evening, the Northwestern State softball team heads to the Frost Classic, hosted by Tennessee-Chattanooga, for a five-game stint beginning on Friday at 1:30 with Butler at Jim Frost Stadium.
 
In addition to the meeting with the Bulldogs (2-6), the Lady Demons (4-5) will play single games with the host Mocs (3-6) Friday evening at 6:30, Middle Tennessee State (4-6) and Tennessee Tech (1-7) on Saturday at 1:30 and 4:00, respectively, and Ohio (8-0) on Sunday at 11:00.
 
Sixth-year head coach Donald Pickett makes way to his former instructional post after serving as an assistant coach with the Mocs from 2001-05. Under his guidance, Tennessee-Chattanooga went 221-126 overall, picking up three Southern Conference championships and advancing within one win of the World Series.
 
For NSU, cleanup hitter Cassandra Barefield leads from the plate with a .409 average, including nine hits and seven RBI. Freshman Micayla Sorosiak sits just behind, hitting .318 noting her first homer last weekend in a three-game sweep of Mississippi Valley State.
 
From the circle, freshman Shelby Sells (2-0) leads with a 1.65 ERA, picking up her second win on Friday vs. the Devilletes. Sells has thrown 17 complete innings this season, striking out 19 while allowing 13 hits and 10 runs.
 
The Bulldogs enter the weekend after losing four straight at the Arkansas Invitational last weekend. Freshman Brandyce Sailee leads from the plate with a .360 average, noting nine hits, including two doubles and a homer. Sophomore Alex Kotter sits just behind hitting .308 with a home run and a double. NSU leads the series 2-0, having last met in 2004 when the Lady Demons came out on top of a 9-1 performance.
 
Throwing 26.2 innings, senior Leah Bry (1-3) garners a 4.72 ERA, striking out 29 and giving up 30 hits so far this season.
 
Picking up their first three wins of the season at the UNLV Tournament last weekend, the Mocs claimed key victories over Portland State, Nevada and BYU while dropping one and two-run battles with Boise State and No. 10 Oregon, respectively.  The programs have not met since the 2000 season as the Lady Demons dropped their third decision all-time to the Mocs, falling 2-0.
 
With a .414 average, Anyssa Robles sets the stage for Tennessee-Chattanooga, leading with 12 hits, including two doubles and a homer. Sam Taylor follows with a .367 average with 11 hits and four RBI. Taylor Deason (2-3) leads from the circle with a 1.22 ERA after throwing 23 complete innings, allowing 25 hits and striking out 19.
 
The Blue Raiders went 3-2 at the UCF Holiday Inn Classic last week, noting wins over Illinois-Chicago and a doubleheader claim over Florida A&M, while falling to James Madison and Central Florida. From the plate, Kayla Toney boasts a .364 average with 13 hits and seven RBI, while Shelby Stinnett (1-2) has thrown 26.1 innings this season, giving up 24 hits and striking out 17.
 
Having already met for the first time in program history at the Troy Subway Invitational less than two weeks ago, the Lady Demons look to bounce back from the 12-7 loss to the Blue Raiders. NSU held Toney to just one hit, but struggled with Stinnett as she only gave up one hit and struck out three.
 
The Golden Eagles enter the weekend coming off a 9-3 win over Kennesaw State, noting their first victory of the season. With just eight hits, senior Kendal Hooper leads from the plate with a .320 average, followed by cleanup Olivia Bennett hitting .300, including two home runs. In the circle, freshman Danielle Liberatore holds a 5.11 ERA in 24.2 innings, giving up 35 hits and 24 runs while striking out 15. 
 
The Lady Demons lead a 2-1 all-time series, last meeting with the Golden Eagles in 2011 as NSU came out on top of a 2-1 battle at the North Texas Sleep Inn Classic.
 
Entering the weekend as the only undefeated team in the tournament, the Bobcats are garnering a perfect record for the first time since the 1974 season. They found a spot in the Osprey Invitational last weekend after their regularly-scheduled games at the Georgia Softball Classic were cancelled due to winter weather issues, and went 4-0 with wins over Savannah State, Southern Illinois, Troy and North Florida.
 
Meeting for the first time in program history, the Bobcats have shared similar opponents with the Lady Demons this season, defeating Troy 5-4 and North Florida 1-0 last weekend at the Osprey Invitational.
 
Amanda Dalton sports a .474 average at the plate with nine hits, including a double, followed by Adrienne Gebele hitting .417 with 10 hits and five RBI. Sophomore Savannah Jo Dorsey holds a 1.03 ERA and a perfect 7-0 mark in the circle, throwing 35 complete innings, allowing just 14 hits and striking out 41.
 
Northwestern State returns to Natchitoches on Wednesday for a doubleheader with Southern, slated to begin at 4:00 at the Lady Demon Softball Complex before heading to the Tulsa Tourney on Saturday for pairs of games with Creighton and the Golden Hurricane.