MONROE – Kellye Kincannon was a home run shy of the cycle, notching a perfect 3-for-3 day, but the remainder of the Northwestern State softball squad accounted for just two hits and ULM claimed a 3-1 non-conference win on Wednesday evening.

The loss snapped NSU's (28-15) seven-game win streak, which began on April 4. The Lady Demons, who maintain a 2½-game lead on Central Arkansas with six games remaining in Southland Conference play, return to league action this weekend in Nacogdoches, Texas, against Stephen F. Austin.

"It's going to take a lot better effort than we got tonight," seventh-year head coach Donald Pickett said. "We're going to have to come to play. We're going to have to bring a lot more energy to what we were doing tonight in order to win."

After missing seven games due to injury, redshirt freshman pitcher Micaela Bouvier made her return, tossing 55 pitches, including 31 for strikes, over three innings while allowing one run, four hits and one walk.

"I thought she did well for the first time back in a couple weeks," Pickett said. "She gave us some good innings. We were in the game. We had here on a pitch count on her going in and I thought she did great."

Skylar Cagle (3-2) drew the loss for NSU, going just 1-3 of an inning, allowing two earned runs, hitting two batters and walking a pair. Shelby Sells tossed the final 2 2-3, allowing two hits and a walk while fanning one.

The Lady Demons took a 1-0 lead in the third helped by Warhawk (27-15) miscues. Hailee Rhodes led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a Sidney Salmans' fielder's choice. After Kincannon walked, Cassandra Barefield reached on a ULM misplay at third. Then, Brittney Jones put NSU on the board, reaching on a fielding error by the shortstop to plate Rhodes.

ULM tied things up with an infield single, stolen base and liner up the middle in the home half of the third. One inning later, the Warhawks needed just one hit to plate two runs, helped by two hits by pitch and a pair of walks in the frame.

NSU put a runner aboard in each inning prior to the seventh, but the squad left nine on base in its final midweek matchup. ULM starter Melanie Coyne (11-9) was dominant, going the distance, scattering five hits and allowing just one run while striking out three and walking two.

Sidney Coy led the way for the Warhawks, finishing 2-for-3, swiping two bags and scoring one run. ULM finished with four stolen bases.

"We couldn't put anything together," Pickett said. "We couldn't make adjustments and if you can't do that you're not going to win."

Northwestern State and SFA get underway with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. The squads close out the series on Saturday with a single game scheduled for the same time. Games 1 and 3 of the series will be broadcast locally on 100.7 KZBL and all three games can be heard worldwide on NSUDemons.com.