HAMMOND -- Winning close games can make or break a season, and it's something to which Northwestern State's next opponent Southeastern Louisiana can attest.
 
The Lady Demons (16-24-1, 6-9 Southland Conference) visit a Lady Lions (19-20, 8-7 SLC) squad that's 6-3 in one-run games.
 
The three-game series starts Friday at 5 p.m. and continues Saturday with a noon doubleheader.
 
NSU is attempting to change this season's narrative in close games as the Lady Demons are just 3-9 in games decided by one run or in extra innings. The Lady Demons record in conference play in such games is 2-4.
 
"Southeastern has played in a lot of low-scoring games and won a lot of one-run games in conference play, so you know they're a good team," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "They will put a lot of pressure on your defense by taking extra bases and are aggressive on the base paths.
 
"We want to minimize those things in different ways and put ourselves in situations where that can't be their strength."
 
The Lady Lions are tied for the conference lead with 99 stolen bases, manufacturing smaller innings as part of the eighth-ranked offense in the SLC with 142 runs scored.
 
NSU relies more on big innings as part of its second-best 192 runs scored, but the Lady Demons adopted a more aggressive mindset on the bases in a series win against Incarnate Word this past weekend.
 
"We're trying to do everything we can to put pressure on the other team," Pickett said. "Some of it was the (UIW) matchup, and some of it is the kind of game you are in and what you're doing offensively that day.
 
"We're struggling a little bit offensively, but we started to come out of it a little bit this past weekend. Right now, it's hard to get three of four hits in an inning, so we're taking every base and trying to put ourselves in a position to score runs."
 
With four series to play, NSU is tied for seventh with Central Arkansas (6-9 SLC) among postseason eligible teams fighting for one of six league tournament spots.
 
A series win at fifth-place Southeastern could help NSU climb into the tournament picture with home series against Nicholls (12-3 SLC) and Central Arkansas (6-9 SLC) left with a road series at Houston Baptist (3-12) remaining.
 
The Lady Demons missed the SLC Tournament this past season  for the first time since 2012, but senior Kellye Kincannon said confidence will be a factor in a late-season surge.
 
"We have to stay confident and stay within ourselves," said Kincannon, who is leading the SLC with 11 doubles and is second in RBIs (34), total bases (81), home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.653). "We have to worry about our own success and not worry about other teams.
 
"We have to worry about what we can control and keep being good teammates and building each other up."
 
NSU took two of three from Southeastern in Natchitoches this past season and hasn't lost a series to the Lady Lions since 2010. Two splits of two-game series are included in that span.