NATCHITOCHES -- Seniors Micaela Bouvier and Sidney Salmans have been part of championship teams, and those seniors hope their lessons learned will help the Northwestern State softball team finish strong in its final two weekends.
 
Dreams of a second regular season conference title might be gone as NSU (24-20, 11-10 Southland Conference) is all but out of the title race, but the Lady Demons are still in the hunt for one of the top four seeds as they host Houston Baptist (8-29, 5-16 SLC) this weekend.
 
The series, which begins Friday at 5 p.m., will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network with Tony Taglavore handling the call. Saturday's first game of a noon doubleheader will be on the radio with the finale being streamed on nsudemons.com
 
"Houston Baptist is a gritty bunch, and they've taken some games against good teams this year," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "We've put the pressure on ourselves to have a really good weekend, and we'll have to come to play Friday night.
 
"We need to jump out and score some runs early. That's what we've been lacking the last couple of weeks when we've been struggling. Hopefully we can get some things going."
 
Bouvier and Salmans will be honored after Saturday's doubleheader as they play their final games in Lady Demon Diamond.
 
Bouvier (12-8), who is expected to pitch two games of the series, enters the weekend with 41 career wins and is ranked in the top five of the Southland Conference in ERA (2.07) and opponent batting average (.215).
 
She's missed one full season (2014) and most of another (2017) in her career but still ranks in NSU's top 10 in wins and winning percentage (.612) with one All-Southland Conference first team selection (2015) to her name.
 
"It means a lot to be able to pitch this season, and I've thought about the what-ifs in the back of my head after getting hurt last year," Bouvier said. "But I've focused on maintaining everything, keeping my shoulder healthy and getting through this season.
 
"It hasn't hit me yet that these are our last home games for me, but I'm lucky to have the friendships and the family I've developed over my years here. Every time I'm on the field, it's with a group of girls that really want to be there and push hard to reach our goals."
 
Salmans, who won't bat again this season after her breaking her thumb this past week, could be a pinch runner if she heals.
 
The four-year starter in centerfield and as a leadoff batter raised her batting average more than 100 points (.306) this season despite juggling a rigorous student teacher schedule.
The Woodlands, Texas, native's 125 runs scored is just two shy of fifth place on NSU's career list to go along with 190 hits and 34 career bases.
 
She capped her junior season with a Southland Conference All-Academic selection.
 
"It says a lot about her character to rebound the way she has this year, and she has a quiet confidence about her," Pickett said. "She's been there before, and she's not scared to work.
 
"She has a big heart, and she was going to make it happen one way or another. I hate it for Sid (injury) because she's done everything right, everything we've asked her to do. She's a great kid who has a ton of respect from her teammates. I know she'll help us from an energy standpoint the rest of the way."
 
Bouvier's competitiveness in the circle will hopefully help NSU snap an eight-game losing streak that's knocked the Lady Demons from the top of the league standings to seventh place as nine teams fight for eight Southland Conference Tournament spots.
 
"Bouvier has a lot of fire about her, and she goes right at hitters," Pickett said. "That's how you have to be, and she always wants the ball.
 
"She has intangibles that not everyone has, and it's helped her a lot between the ears at this level. Both of these kids have been a big part of what we've done, and I've definitely enjoyed having these two around."
 
NSU (11-10 SLC) has a two-game lead and a tie-breaker on ninth-place Lamar (9-11 SLC) and a one-game lead on Sam Houston State (10-11).
 
The Lady Demons could stretch and get a top-four seed, which means a first-round bye and a pass on playing in a single-elimination round (seeds five through eight).
 
Southeastern (14-7) occupies the No. 4 spot three games ahead of NSU and owns the tiebreaker.
 
But NSU could more easily jump fifth-place Central Arkansas (12-9) and Abilene Christian (12-9). The Lady Demons beat ACU and own the tiebreaker, and they play at UCA in the final weekend.
 
HBU (5-16 SLC) is a longshot at a conference tournament spot, but the Huskies have been dangerous at times.
 
The Huskies' lone series win this season was at ACU, and HBU just ended an eight-game losing streak of their own by winning the finale against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
HBU has taken single games from Southeastern and Incarnate Word.