NATCHITOCHES -- After Northwestern State edged Louisiana Tech 5-3 at home this past Wednesday, coach Donald Pickett is expecting an even tougher fight this Wednesday as the Lady Demons attempt to sweep the season series in Ruston at 6 p.m.
 
But NSU (11-18-1) has had the upper hand recently, winning six of the last seven games against Louisiana Tech dating back to 2014.
 
The Lady Demons topped the Lady Techsters 11-9 in Ruston this past year and won three straight (9-4 in 2015 and 4-0 in 2014) road games in the series.
 
"It's going to be tougher than the last time now that we're playing them on the road," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "They are a quality team, and we got a couple of hits when we needed them (in Wednesday's win).
 
"We hope to ride some momentum from winning the finale against Abilene Christian on Saturday."
 
One huge reason for NSU's recent success against Louisiana Tech is Kellye Kincannon.
 
Kincannon bashed a pair of two-run home runs Wednesday to account for four of NSU's five runs.
 
In seven career games, Kincannon is 14-of-27 with seven home runs, 21 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Three of her six career multi homerun games have come against Louisiana Tech.
 
In NSU's 2016 trip to Ruston, Kincannon collected a career-high four hits and smacked two home runs with five RBIs.
 
"It means a lot to beat Louisiana Tech -- they're near us and are a very respectable program," Kincannon said after Wednesday's win. "It's special because you get to know the players on that team and build relationships with them, so it's fun."    
 
NSU lost two of three games to Abilene Christian this past weekend to fall to 1-5 in Southland Conference play.
 
But the Lady Demons' first two conference opponents were Lamar and ACU, expected to be two of the top four teams in the SLC.
 
NSU's 5-0 shutout of ACU on Saturday came after a gut-wrenching, 13-inning loss (6-5).
 
"We definitely hope (Saturday's win was a turning point)," Pickett said. "We showed a lot of fight in the 13-inning loss, but we didn't get hits with opportunities to win.
 
"We showed a lot of fight in the last game and played well last Wednesday against Louisiana Tech. We want to play good again and have some consistency going into the weekend series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi."