NATCHITOCHES – No. 1 seed Northwestern State softball rallied from five runs down and capitalized on six runs in the ninth inning to down Lamar, 16-10, on Friday afternoon to make its third straight championship game appearance in the Southland Conference Tournament.

Northwestern State (36-17) begins play at 2:20 p.m. against Central Arkansas, needing a pair of wins to earn the program's third straight league tournament title.

The Lady Demons took an 11-10 lead on an RBI double from Micayla Sorosiak, who later came around to score on a Sidney Salmans single. With the bases loaded, Kellye Kincannon provided the blow with a grand slam, giving NSU the 16-10 victory.

Brittany Virgoe launched a two-run home run in the third inning, the eighth of her season, to cut the Lamar (26-28) deficit to 5-2. In the fourth, NSU pushed another across on a RBI fielders' choice from Kaytie Proctor to plate Brittney Jones.

In the fifth, NSU tacked on a pair of runs after a Kincannon hit by pitch and Cassandra Barefield single. Then, Brittney Jones drove home Kincannon on a single to set the stage for Natalie Landry's three-run home run, cutting the Lamar lead to 8-7.

The Lady Cardinals added insurance in the sixth, taking a 9-7 lead but the NSU was not done.  The Lady Demons pushed three runs across, taking their first lead of the game when it mattered most. Sorosiak singled home the first run, cutting the deficit to one and Hailee Rhodes brought him a pair to give NSU a 10-9 lead in remarkable fashion.

As only seemed fitting, Lamar answered in the bottom half, pushing the game to extras on an RBI single from Sarah Ragsdale, her fifth hit of the game.