NATCHITOCHES – Cassandra Barefield launched a pair of home runs including a grand slam over the right field wall in Game 1 to lift Northwestern State softball to a pair of wins against Sam Houston State on Friday afternoon at the Lady Demon Diamond.

Barefield's grand slam was the first of her season and highlighted a 5-2 victory in the opener. Timely hitting, including a three-run fifth inning and four run sixth led to an 8-0 six-inning Lady Demon victory in Game 2.

"Barefield really picked us up in Game 1," seventh-year head coach Donald Pickett said. "She did it again in Game 2 as did Kellye Kincannon. They were trying to throw (Barefield) off balance but it's hard to pitch around her when you have good hitters back-to-back-to-back. They tried to pitch around Bare and (Brittney) Jones came up with some big hits."

With the wins, NSU (18-12, 8-0 Southland) has won nine straight games including eight consecutive in conference play. Sam Houston dropped to 8-19 overall and 1-7 in league play.

Barefield's blast provided the difference in Game 1, plating Sidney Salmans, Brittany Virgoe and Kincannon. Meanwhile, Micaela Bouvier (9-4) was sharp in the circle, notching her sixth consecutive victory in as many appearances, tossing 6 1-3 innings, scattering eight hits and two runs while striking out three and walking three.

The Lady Demons jumped out on the Bearkats in the first when Jones singled to left field to plate Virgoe who registered a hit in the inning. In the process, NSU improved to 10-2 when scoring in the opening frame.

Mikayla Brown made two appearances on the day, shutting down the Bearkat offense in some key spots. In Game 1, she entered in relief with the bases loaded in the seventh and one out. After walking the first hitter in, she forced two pop ups, recording her first save of the season.

In Game 2, the freshman right-hander again came on with the bases juiced, this time with two outs. Brown came away unscathed again by getting Sam Houston leadoff hitter Jessica Slater to hit the ball back to the mound for a 1-3 putout.

"She did really well," Pickett said. "We've got a lot of confidence in her coming in. She's done a really good job over the last month coming into the game in some tight spots. She's getting really confident in that role. It's big for us to have another pitcher to throw out there and keep them off balance."

Starter Baylee Gray (3-4) earned her third victory of the season, throwing 4 2-3 innings, allowing four hits and holding Sam Houston scoreless while striking out five and walking another.

After heading through the first three innings scoreless, Barefield hit her second long ball of the day, a solo shot into the Outfield Club to put NSU up 1-0.

In the fifth, Kincannon recorded one of her three hits in the game, this one, a RBI single that plated Hailee Rhodes. Two batters later, Brittney Jones doubled in Kincannon and Virgoe to push the NSU lead to 4-0.

The Lady Demons closed the door on the second game with a sixth inning leadoff home run from Kaytie Proctor – her second of the season – and a two-run long ball from Kincannon – her seventh. Natalie Landry doubled down the right field line to score Kayla Boening with the game's final run.

Offensively, Barefield finished the day 3-for-6 with five RBIs and two runs. Jones notched an impressive 5-for-6 performance including three RBIs while Kincannon finished 4-for-7 with three runs and three RBIs. Not to be outdone, Virgoe went 3-for-6 scoring three runs.

"Hopefully the weather holds off and we're able to continue the momentum from this game," Pickett said. "I think we'll be ready to go. I think the girls are ready to play and hopefully we'll finish strong."

NSU will seek its third straight Southland Conference sweep on Saturday at one o'clock against the Bearkats.