NATCHITOCHES -- The Northwestern State softball team has all but clinched a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament as the Lady Demons head to Central Arkansas to finish the regular season this weekend.
 
NSU (26-21, 13-11 SLC) travels to Central Arkansas (26-23, 14-10 SLC) for a three-game series in which the Lady Demons can secure their tournament spot with one win. NSU plays a Friday doubleheader at 5 p.m. with Saturday's finale at 1 p.m.
 
Fans can hear the action for Friday's opener and Saturday's finale on KZBL 100.7 FM with audio from each game being streamed on nsudemons.com. Patrick Netherton has the play-by-play call.
 
Even if NSU loses all three, the Lady Demons are still in with a loss from Sam Houston State (19-31, 10-14 SLC).
 
There's only one situation -- a four-way tie involving Abilene Christian (21-24, 13-11 SLC), Lamar (27-25, 11-13 SLC), SHSU and NSU in which the Lady Demons would not make the eight-team league tournament. The teams would need to be tied at 13 wins.
 
But NSU coach Donald Pickett and Co. aren't caught up in all the math. They are more concerned about playing well to build momentum for what they hope is a long tournament stay.
 
"That's the biggest thing, making sure we're confident and playing well," Pickett said. "We're continuing to move forward, and we want to use our series win against Houston Baptist to get rolling again heading into the tournament.
 
"We need momentum going into this tournament, and hopefully we created a little bit. We need to continue to build on it against a good UCA team on the road. We want to win this series."
 
After winning two of three games, NSU is in a tie for sixth place with ACU. The Lady Demons own that tiebreaker via a series win at Abilene earlier this season.
 
NSU can climb as high as the No. 5 seed, jumping Central Arkansas, but the Lady Demons are mathematically eliminated from a top-four seed and a tournament bye.
 
The No. 5-8 seeds play in a single-game elimination round early Tuesday in Lake Charles before the double-elimination portion of that tournament begins that night.
 
NSU snapped an eight-game losing streak by winning the first two games against HBU this past weekend, using three opportune home runs to take or build leads.
 
"It was definitely big to win the first two games and the series after we had been struggling like we were," Pickett said. "We're in a situation to play for a higher seed at UCA, and we want to take momentum from this series win."
 
Julie Rawls set the tone of the series when her three-run home run in the sixth inning relieved pressure in a 5-2 win. Rawls is tied for the team lead with nine home runs.
 
Perhaps just as important is production from the bottom half of the lineup. Batters in the No. 5-9 positions combined for nine hits in the series, including a pair of home runs from new designated player Codi Vernace.
 
Hayley Barbazon, who had two hits in a 6-5 series clinching win, said she feels the offense getting back on track after struggling.
 
"A lot of us had been struggling hitting, but we're starting to piece it back together," Barbazon said. "If it all comes together and we get it going in the last series, we'll be ready for the tournament.
 
"I've been working hard because I've been struggling and I want to do better for my team. We know we need to play our best this weekend to fight to get in the tournament and then have a chance to win it."
 
Shortstop Toni Hebert led the way with three hits in the series in the bottom half of the lineup.
 
"(Emma Hawthorne, Barbazon, Hebert and Vernace) all had big hits in key innings, and that was huge for us," Pickett said. "The deeper we can go in our lineup and the more kids we have contributing, it takes more pressure off everybody else.
 
"We were doing that early in the season, and we kind of lost that toward the middle of the road, but hopefully the HBU series gets us on the right track and we can carry that out the rest of the way."
 
Pickett has guided NSU into the tournament in four of the last five seasons and five times in his first nine seasons. Another tournament appearance would be his sixth.
 
UCA has won the previous two series and the 2015 SLC Tournament Championship game, taking seven of the last eight meetings. UCA's last win eliminated NSU from this past season's SLC Tournament.
 
The Bears have won two of the past three SLC series, taking two from ACU and Lamar with a 2-1 loss to Southeastern in a series sandwiched between.