BATON ROUGE – When the Northwestern State softball team travels down to No. 14 LSU, there will be plenty of South Louisiana fans screaming in the stands Wednesday at 6 p.m.
But not everyone will be decked out in LSU (32-13) purple and gold. NSU senior
Natalie Landry, a Denham Springs native, will have an abundance of family and friends cheering her on in likely her last appearance in Tiger Park as a Lady Demon (24-18).
"It'll be exciting. I always bring a large crowd there because South Louisiana families love to come and support," Landry said. "It will extra special because it will probably be my last time playing in Tiger Park.
"We play at Nicholls this weekend as well, so I will have people supporting all week."
NSU is 2-2 against Power Five schools this season, topping Mississippi State and Oklahoma State and losing twice to Baylor, one of which the Bears needed a late comeback win.
"Going down and playing our hardest on Wednesday is huge and will give us a lot of momentum for this weekend," Landry said. "We have to know that we are good enough and we can play up to their potential.
"We did it earlier this season at Mississippi State (receiving votes at the time of NSU's game). It's just a jersey, it's just a school – nothing different."
The Tigers are coming off a 2-1 series win at Mississippi State with one win coming in extra innings.
With a two-run home run this past weekend against McNeese State, Landry moved into a tie for fourth place all-time in NSU history with 30 home runs. She's tied with current teammate and junior
Brittney Jones as well as NSU legend Ginger Craig.
The Lady Demons are attempting to recreate their early season momentum as NSU started 15-5 in non-conference play. NSU is just 9-13 since, but the Lady Demons show flashes of their early-season form.
"LSU is one of the most talented teams in the country with five returning All-Americans and a deep pitching staff," said NSU coach
Donald Pickett. "They don't have a lot of weaknesses.
"There's been some times where they've left some runners on base, but they have .300 hitters up and down the lineup. It'll be a tough task, but it's an opportunity to go down there and play a great team, throw your best out there and see if you can compete with them and have a chance to win."
In NSU's first season of softball in 1979, the Lady Demons split four games with LSU (2-2). LSU has won the last 27 contests, but the Tigers escaped Natchitoches in 2014 with a 5-3 win. LSU won twice by double-digits in 2015.
NSU is 0-40 against nationally ranked teams since the Lady Demons' record book included rankings in 2005, but the Lady Demons are 1-0 against the Southeastern Conference and had a near-miss against then-No. 21 Baylor earlier this season.
