NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State softball team has a little momentum after winning a road series at Sam Houston State, but the Lady Demons face arguably their toughest Southland Conference test to date when Lamar visits for a three-game series.

The Cardinals (19-12, 6-3 Southland Conference) are coming off a series sweep of Incarnate Word and a midweek split with Houston and sit in a three-way tie for third place in the league.

NSU (20-11, 5-4 SLC), currently sixth in the SLC, has beaten Sam Houston State and Houston Baptist after falling to UIW in series. All three opponents are tied for ninth at 2-7 in conference play.

"Lamar likes to play small ball, moving runners over with bunts and getting on base with bunts as well," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "This is our toughest test yet, and we're glad to be coming home to play in front of our own fans.

"We are playing more consistently as we've won our last two conference series, but we'll need more consistency in the circle and in the number of quality at-bats to get the results we're looking for."

The series begins Friday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader followed by Saturday's finale at 1 p.m.

Pitching carried the Lady Demons early in the season, but the bats have warmed up considerably in the last month.

NSU scored 25 runs in three games at SHSU, and the lineup has produced at least four runs in 12 of the last 14 games. NSU is averaging nearly eight runs per game this season.

In the circle, freshman Katelyn Boles' emergence should take pressure off starters Shelby Sells (7-6, 2.75 ERA) and Micaela Bouvier (11-4, 2.94 ERA), who have combined to pitch 189 innings through 31 games after the season-ending injury of SLC Pitcher of the Year Mikayla Brown in the first weekend.

Boles allowed two runs on three hits in 3 1-3 innings in her first collegiate outing at Sam Houston State in a loss, but Pickett was impressed with her ability.

"Boles did a great job coming in and giving us a chance to win the game," Pickett said. "It's a lot to ask of Boles to go four innings in her first outing in a conference game of that magnitude.

"She kept opposing batters off-balance."

Despite a relative shortage of healthy pitchers, NSU's team ERA of 2.75 ranks third in the conference as does its total runs (163) and batting average (.300).

Sells is sitting at No. 9 in ERA in the SLC while Bouvier's 11 wins are second-best in the league.

But both are battling through slight slumps in conference play. Bouvier has allowed at least three earned runs in four of her six conference appearances, while Sells has allowed three earned runs in three appearances.

Lamar's .324 batting average leads the SLC, spearheaded by Brittany Rodriguez (.429).

NSU counters with junior stud Kellye Kincannon, who ranks in the top four in eight different conference categories. Kincannon is tied for the league lead with 11 doubles (with Lamar's Kelly Meeuwsen) and is batting .427 with nine home runs and 28 RBIs.

In the circle, Lamar features its own prominent pitching pair with Ciara Luna (8-3, 2.47 ERA) and Laura Napoli (6-5, 2.76 ERA).