FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The Northwestern State softball team has dodged rain drops and snow pellets the majority of the 2019 season.
 
The Lady Demons (8-6) will do the same dance this week as the Arkansas Wooo Pig Classic was moved up a day because of expected weather.
 
NSU will start the event Thursday against No. 12 Arkansas (11-3) at 5 p.m. followed by the nightcap against Omaha (1-9). The Lady Demons play two more on Friday (vs. Boston U. at 10 a.m. and vs. Nevada at 2:30 p.m.) before finishing the tournament Saturday against Nevada at 1:15 p.m.
 
Arkansas first baseman Danielle Gibson made national headlines when she "homered for the cycle" against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville -- hitting a grand slam, a three-run home run, a two-run home run and a solo shot.
 
Boston (6-3) is on a five-game winning streak, while Nevada (6-5) went 2-3 in its last weekend, including a split with Nicholls and a 3-2 win against ULM. Omaha's lone win came against Buffalo this past weekend, and among their losses included Lamar, which was former Northwestern State assistant coach Amy Hooks' first career win as a head coach.
 
"This is another tough weekend, and we want to keep moving forward and continue to do a good job of improving each time out," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "We've done a good job this past week of not doing too much and taking the right approach at the plate.
 
"We still left too many runners on base, but we're getting better there. We need to keep up these consistent approaches on the road."
 
After a tough second weekend at North Texas, NSU returned home and won all six games at home this past week, topping Fairleigh Dickinson, Houston Baptist and Arkansas-Pine Bluff twice each.
 
Much like NSU hasn't been able to dodge poor weather, opposing pitchers have had difficulty navigating the Lady Demons' deep batting lineup.
 
The heart of the batting is solidified by freshmen Riley Cantrell and Alexis Perry, who lead the team in RBIs with 14 and 10, respectively.
 
Perry is the reigning Southland Conference Hitter of the Week after going 8-for-16 with eight RBIs and two home runs in six contests.
 
"Riley and Alexis have a lot of power and ability," Pickett said. "They are softball players, and they're tough and will continue to grow.
 
"They bring a lot of energy to the team, and that youthfulness is huge."
 
Cantrell actually led the team with nine RBIs this past week as NSU averaged seven runs per game this past week.
 
Sophomore Cayla Jones, the reigning Louisiana Freshman of the Year, draws a lot of attention from opposing pitchers, but she still leads the team with 14 runs scored and 13 walks from the No. 3 hole. When given pitches to hit, Jones has delivered, contributing six RBIs and slugging .543.
 
"It's so cool being a part of this lineup, and the coolest part is no one knows about all of these cool freshmen we have," Jones said. "We have so much depth, it doesn't matter what you do to one batter because the next one is going to back them up."
 
NSU's top two hitters in the order -- juniors Hayley Barbazon and Kaitlyn St. Clair -- have set the table with 12 and eight runs scored, respectively. Barbazon has three doubles (tied for team high) and five RBIs, while St. Clair has a team-high .341 batting average with seven RBIs.
 
"We're built pretty deep, and there's not going to be a lot of fall off throughout this lineup," Pickett said. "We knew it was going to be a strength for us coming into the year, but we left so many baserunners on early in the season.
 
"We were wondering, 'Hey, when are we going to do it?' But we made a few changes, added another bat to the lineup, and it's worked out really well. Now everybody is kind of settled in and getting hits and getting on."
 
Even though some batting averages at the bottom of the lineup aren't eye-popping, the production this past week has been.
 
Freshman shortstop Maggie Black, who slid over from third base, smashed two home runs as part of her five hits after being hitless in the first two weeks.
 
Junior third baseman Emma Hawthorne, who shifted from catcher/designated player, had three of her five RBIs this past week.
 
One of the most impactful changes has been the emergence of Elise Vincent in right field and the No. 9 hole.
 
Vincent went 4-of-10 this past week, moving runners and turning over the lineup to get back to the productive top.
 
"I've been able to get the ball in play and get the ball on the ground," said the left-handed slapper. "We've been struggling with lifting and pulling the ball a bit, so being able to catch it more out front and square it up has been working for me.
 
"We're excited to go to Arkansas and see how different teams play and we how we respond to those teams."
 
NSU hasn't had much trouble putting runners on the bases, it's been driving them home. The Lady Demons hit .154 with runners in scoring position in the first two weeks, which improved to .271 in six games this past week.