NATCHITOCHES -- Northwestern State softball hopes snapping its seven-game losing streak Wednesday with a win against Louisiana Tech hit a reset button of sorts as Abilene Christian visits for the Lady Demons' first conference home series of the season.
 
NSU (10-16-1, 0-3 Southland Conference) hosts ACU (13-12, 3-0 SLC) on Friday at 5 p.m. with a doubleheader Saturday at noon.
 
The Lady Demons aim to rebound from a series sweep at Lamar, but the Wildcats are also one of the top four teams in the league.
 
"We think we are right there at a breakthrough point, and we can think we can achieve that this weekend," said Kincannon, who hit two home runs for four RBIs against Louisiana Tech. "We've got to stay confident and stay behind each other, picking each other up when we need it and having our pitchers' back."
 
With the two-run win, NSU improved to 5-11-1 in games decided by three runs or less. It was a reverse from the seven-game losing streak in which NSU lost five games by two runs or less.
 
Abilene Christian swept Southeastern in the opening SLC weekend and counts Iowa and Texas State as quality wins in a tough schedule.
 
"Abilene is one of the better teams in our conference, and they're very talented," said NSU coach Donald Pickett, who added that his has to learn how to win close games in a competitive conference. "Hopefully our team has seen how important it is to make adjustments like we tried to do Sunday (at Lamar), and I think we continued to do that Wednesday against Louisiana Tech.
 
"The kids started to buy in and tried to make adjustments to their approaches at the plate. (ACU pitcher) Hannah Null is very good, and they have another kid (Sidney Holman) who throws the ball well and throws hard. We'll need to execute our plan better and have more focus this weekend."
 
Null (5-9, 3.38) is an off-speed pitcher not unlike Lamar's Ciara Luna, who recorded two wins against NSU with three combined runs allowed.
 
Holman (8-3, 2.29) is a standout freshman who has put up some of the best numbers in the league this season.
 
NSU's pitching has begun to rebound with Mikayla Brown (5-7, 4.14 ERA) snapping a four-game losing streak Wednesday and Katelyn Boles (3-6, 4.36 ERA) throwing three scoreless innings in relief to earn her first career save.
 
"(Wednesday's) performances will help both Brown and I," Boles said. "We're not a really deep staff, so we all have to rely on each other. We proved that when we work together, it showed us what we can accomplish.
 
"The win against Louisiana Tech should give us just the right momentum we need when coming into the weekend."
 
ACU's Peyton Hedrick (eight home runs) and Kincannon (seven home runs) are the top two power hitters so far in the conference. Each batter has 24 RBIs this season, tied for second in the league.
 
NSU won the programs' only meeting this past season 4-2 in the Texas State tournament. Then-senior Natalie Landry hit a two-run home run off Null in the seventh inning.
 
Looking at the Southland Conference, all five series played were sweeps. Sam Houston State swept Incarnate Word, Nicholls toppled Houston Baptist and McNeese upended Central Arkansas to go with Lamar's sweep of NSU and Abilene's of Southeastern.
 
Six teams make the conference tournament, and a series win would put the Lady Demons in a more favorable position early in the season after being swept the opening weekend.