MONROE – Northwestern State softball begins a seven-game road trip to close out its regular season on Wednesday when the squad faces ULM in a non-conference matchup at 6 p.m.
The squads met previously on Feb. 18 with NSU (28-14) scratching back from an early 3-0 deficit to claim a 4-3 victory against the Warhawks (25-15).
"I think it will be two different teams playing," seventh-year head coach
Donald Pickett said. "Everyone has played a lot of conference games. You're three-fourths of the way or more through the season. We'll have to go up there and play our best. They've got a lot of speed and athleticism."
In the game, NSU launched three home runs including senior
Cassandra Barefield's first of the season and freshman
Hailee Rhodes' first collegiate long ball.
Brittney Jones also registered a dinger to spark a three-run fifth inning to put the Lady Demons up for good.
In the circle, redshirt freshman
Micaela Bouvier (11-4) tossed her most dominant game of the season, allowing only one hit while striking out 10 in seven innings of relief of starter
Baylee Gray.
Since that time, NSU has built its name as one of the country's premier offenses, ranking 16
th in home runs per game (1.50), 18
th in slugging percentage (.560), 22
nd in doubles per game (1.62), 35
th in scoring (6.24) and 39
th in average (.318).
Individually,
Kellye Kincannon is 38
th nationally with 1.14 RBIs per game and Barefield is 34
th with 0.36 home runs per game.
While its offense has garnered most of the recognition, NSU pitching enters the midweek game having not allowed a run in its last 24 innings, dating to April 11 against McNeese State.
"Our pitching has been getting stronger all year long," Pickett said. "They've been gradually getting better and better. This weekend it was really good to see Mikayla (Brown) come out and throw two shutouts. It was huge to for
Baylee Gray to come out and pitch a complete-game seven innings and get us the win in Game 2."
Brown, the reigning Southland Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Pitcher of the Week, ranks No. 13 nationally and No. 1 in the league with a 1.33 ERA. Bouvier is third in the conference with a 2.86 ERA.
The Warhawks are looking to right the ship after losing seven of their last eight games heading into a Tuesday evening matchup against Louisiana Tech. Meanwhile, Northwestern State has won seven straight, including a sweep against Nicholls in the final home regular season series last weekend.
"We were real happy we had a great weekend on senior weekend," Pickett said. "We are happy for those family and players who have been here and meant a lot to our program. For those girls to come out and play like that for them this weekend it was really special."
The win streak has vaulted NSU to 17-2 in Southland play and into first place where the squad currently holds a 2½-game lead on Central Arkansas. ULM is fifth in the Sun Belt at 9-7.
The game will be the final non-conference tune-up for NSU. The team travels to Nacogdoches, Texas, for a three-game set against SFA. Friday's doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. with Saturday's single game scheduled for the same time.
