WACO, Texas -- Starting the season against a Women's College World Series participant could make any squad not accustomed to the battles of major conferences uneasy.
 
Not Northwestern State.
 
When the Lady Demons travel to face No. 10 Baylor in a three-game series starting Friday, seeing a ranked team in the dugout won't be anything new.
 
NSU played six ranked opponents this past season and three more in 2016, eliminating the fear that a power program can impose on an opponent.
 
"We do have a bunch of confidence, and we gave (Baylor) a good game here last year," said sophomore outfielder Julie Rawls, a Hallsville, Texas, native who grew up three hours outside of Waco. "With them going to the (WCWS), it gives us more of an edge to go at them.
 
"They put their socks on the same way we do, and we just want to go at them."

Friday's single game at 6 p.m. will be televised on Fox Sports South Plus, and Saturday's 2 p.m. doubleheader can be seen (paid video) on baylorbears.com
 
Baylor played a doubleheader in Natchitoches this past season, winning 3-1 in eight innings before pulling away late in a 3-0 win at Lady Demon Diamond.
 
Against other ranked teams, NSU tied then-No. 1 Florida in the fifth inning and trailed then-No. 9 Oklahoma 1-0 in the sixth inning of a 3-0 loss. The Sooners were the eventual national champions.
 
NSU hasn't beaten a ranked team since program record books started tracking weekly rankings, but 10^th-year head coach Donald Pickett says past experience against top programs should help this weekend.
 
"A lot of those kids have been in those situations against quality programs," Pickett said. "The more comfortable we are and the more times we do it, the more confidence we gain from that.
 
"We don't know what will happen, but we have to focus on what we can control and hopefully give ourselves a shot to win."
 
"Fail aggressively" is a term that Pickett used to describe how he wants to see a roster play that will featuring a bevy of freshmen and sophomores.
 
Eight of the nine position starters are likely to be freshmen and sophomores on opening day, but all but one of the six sophomores started at least 25 games as freshmen.
 
"It's exciting to play a top team like Baylor, and we're looking forward to competing one pitch at a time," Pickett said. "We'll see what we can learn and what will make us better down the road.
"I want these young players to have the right approach and face difficult situations. We want to adjust to the speed of the game and stay confident no matter what. We'll fail and make mistakes at times, but we've been talking about failing (aggressively) while we continue to grow and improve."
 
The flip side is only Rawls and sophomore catcher Emma Hawthorne made significant starts at the positions they will likely play this season.
 
Hayley Barbazon will move to first base and Adele Vincent will slide from third base to short stop. Sidney Harris will be a new starter at third base.
 
Where NSU fans will see familiar faces is in the circle.
 
Veteran pitchers Micaela Brown and Mikayla Bouvier are healthier than they've been since winning both first-team spots on the All-Southland Conference team.
 
"I'm still not completely where I want to be, but I'm getting there and getting better every day," said Brown, who posted a 16-14 record one season after recovering from an ACL tear. "Playing Baylor in the past does give us confidence, and we've played big teams like this before.

"Of course we respect them, but we can relax and go out and do what we need to do to try and win."
 
NSU touts four players from East Texas, and Rawls said she'll have Baylor friends who say they'll be cheering for her.
 
"It's pretty cool to play close to home, and a lot of my friends go to Baylor," said the Hallsville, Texas, native. "They coming to watch.
 
"Of course you grow up knowing who Baylor is, so it's exciting to come and compete against them."