NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State softball rides its six-game winning streak, all coming in Southland Conference play, into midweek non-conference action as the squad welcomes Louisiana Tech to the Lady Demon Diamond on Wednesday for a six o'clock first pitch.

The Lady Demons (15-12, 6-0 SLC) swept Houston Baptist last weekend, highlighted by Southland Conference Hitter of the Week Cassandra Barefield's 5-for-7 performance including three home runs and seven RBIs.

"The middle of our order is pretty strong," seventh-year head coach Donald Pickett said. "As strong as it is, it's hard to pitch around anybody. (Barefield) leads that group. She's a senior in that group and hopefully she continues to get stronger as the year goes along. She's done great things here over the last four years."

Louisiana Tech (16-7, 1-2 Conference USA) heads into the midweek after dropping two of three against league foe Florida Atlantic. The Lady Techsters loss to the Owls on Saturday snapped its seven-game win streak.

Wednesday's meeting will be Louisiana Tech's fifth this season against Southland foes, claiming the previous four, including three against Lamar. LA Tech ranks third in C-USA with a 2.61 earned run average and takes fourth in batting average at .315.

"They are a very talented team," Pickett said. "Mark (Montgomery) does a very good job up there. They're going to come in here and be really competitive. They're really athletic; strong, fast and just a talented team. We're going to have to play a really good game to get a win."

Comparatively, NSU has also built a name for itself offensively. The Lady Demons rank 14^th nationally in home runs per game (1.41) and 20^th in slugging percentage (.547). The squad takes the top spot in the Southland in home runs (38), runs scored (167) and RBIs (159).

With two double-digit scoring affairs against Houston Baptist last weekend, NSU has scored 10 or more runs seven times, one shy of tying the school record set in 2005 and matched again last season.

Individually, Kellye Kincannon places 14^th nationally with 36 RBIs and 16^th with nine home runs. She is also NSU's leader with a .388 batting average as well as 10 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games.

Wednesday's matchup will be the 95^th all-time between the two squads with LA Tech holding a 51-43 edge in the series that begin in 1980. NSU holds a slight 6-4 advantage in the last 10 meetings, including winning both matchups last season.

During their last meeting in Natchitoches, Louisiana Tech held a 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh before Kincannon singled home two runs for the walk-off win. The Lake Jackson, Texas, product recorded a career-high seven RBIs in the game and went a combined 5-for-8 with 10 RBIs and three home runs in both matchups against the Lady Techsters.

NSU continues its homestand this weekend when it hosts Sam Houston State. The Friday doubleheader begins at three o'clock before the Southland rivals close out play on Saturday at 1 p.m.