LAKE CHARLES -- One game.
 
That's all Northwestern State softball coach Donald Pickett and the No. 7 seed Lady Demons have on their minds as they begin the Southland Conference Tournament on Tuesday in a single-game elimination round against No. 6 seed Abilene Christian.
 
NSU (27-23, 14-13 SLC) will play in the tournament's second game at 1:30 p.m. at McNeese's Joe Miller Field with the winner advancing into the double-elimination portion of the bracket to face McNeese at 6:30 p.m. Every tournament game will be broadcast on the Demon Sports Network with Patrick Netherton having the call.
 
With the bottom four seeds playing a single-elimination round in the tournament's expanded eight-team format, Pickett knows the Lady Demons will be in a fight for their postseason lives against ACU (23-25, 15-12 SLC).
 
"You've got to get the win in a one-game situation, so we're going to leave it all out there and see where it goes," said Pickett, who led NSU to SLC Tournament titles in 2013 and 2014. "It's a new season, and both teams are totally different from when we played them in the second weekend of conference play.
 
"Each team knows the strong points of the other, and it's about who can go out and execute."
 
Following an offensive game plan against ACU pitcher Hannah Null (18-13), who posted a 1.52 ERA against conference opponents, will likely be key.
 
NSU has seen Null in six of the program's seven all-time meetings, posting a 3-1 record against the off-speed pitcher. NSU is 4-3 overall against ACU with each meeting occurring since 2016.
 
The Lady Demons took two of three games in Abilene this season, including going 1-1 against Null, but Null is 10-4 since late March.
 
After an NSU comeback fell short in a 4-3 loss against Null on March 16, the Lady Demons stormed to wins of 9-1 and 4-0, the latter against Null.
 
Sophomore Sidney Harris' three-run home run set the tone as Micaela Bouvier tossed a three-hitter in the 4-0 win.
 
After hitting a rough patch in the last few weeks of the season, NSU's bats started turning around with 16 hits in the final two games at Central Arkansas. The Lady Demons fell in the second game 5-3 before taking the finale 8-3.
 
"It's good to get a win and bounce back from Friday's losses, it'll lift us up," Pickett said. "Our hitters got some confidence with the way they hit the ball.
 
"It's going to be a tough test to face Null and talented ACU hitters, but we have try and focus on what we do well and not get caught up in everything else."
 
Sophomore catcher Emma Hawthorne had a career-high six RBIs in the finale, saying she's definitely feeling good vibes heading into the postseason.
 
"It's really big to go into the tournament with a win, and our bats are finally coming around," Hawthorne said. "We've got to score runs to win games."
 
Bouvier has seen plenty of the Wildcats herself, posting a 2-1 record in three appearances in her career.
 
Her three-hitter this season followed an outing in which ACU scored four runs in the first inning. She was the winning pitcher in the program's first-ever meeting, a 4-2 win in the Texas State Tournament in 2016.
 
Bouvier (13-10), who has posted 42 career victories after overcoming a litany of injuries, has produced an ERA close to 2.00 most of the season before finishing with a 2.56.
 
Both her and Mikayla Brown were all-conference first-teamers in 2015 with Brown winning the SLC Pitcher of the Year.
 
This season, Brown (10-8) snapped a streak of nine appearances without a win by taking Saturday's finale. She started the season 9-2 and 4-0 in SLC play, including a one-run effort on two hits in a 9-1 win at ACU.
 
"Our pitchers aren't happy with their performances, but hopefully they'll respond in a positive way," said Pickett of a staff that issued 32 free passes in the UCA series. "I think our pitchers will come back with fire to prove that they are two of the better pitchers in the conference.
 
"I hope they take that chip on their shoulder down to Lake Charles."
 
Bouvier and Brown constitute nearly all of the experience on a team with just five upperclassmen, but for a squad that starts eight freshmen and sophomores, the Lady Demons aren't as young as they seem.
 
Hawthorne, Julie Rawls and Hayley Barbazon have at least 75 career starts, and the sophomore class took in an SLC Tournament this past season, going 1-2.
 
ACU features six seniors led by Peyton Hedrick, Holly Neese and Null. But the Wildcats haven't played in a conference tournament as ACU has been transitioning to full-member status, which includes a four-year ban on the postseason.
 
NSU is making its fifth SLC Tournament appearance in the past six seasons and sixth trip in Pickett's 10^th season. The Lady Demons won the event in 2013 and 2014 with corresponding NCAA Tournament appearances before winning the regular season title in 2015.