NATCHITOCHES -- Much more often than not, the Southland Conference has engraved either Northwestern State's or McNeese's name on a softball championship trophy in the last six years.
 
The Lady Demons (13-14, 5-1 SLC) and Cowgirls (13-17, 4-2 SLC) find themselves near the top of the conference standings again as the rivalry continues in Lake Charles this weekend. NSU plays a 6 p.m. opener Friday and a Saturday doubleheader at noon at Joe Miller Field.
 
The first two games of the series will be broadcast on The Demon Sports Network (KZBL 100.7 FM) with the third game on a webstream broadcast (nsudemons.com) with play-by-play announcer Patrick Netherton on the call.
 
NSU is tied in first place with Lamar, who is led by former Lady Demon assistant Amy Hooks in her first season.
 
McNeese is in a three-way tie for third place as teams try to separate nearing the midway point of the conference season.
 
"We'll go down there and play a great team and program that's been on top for the past five or six years," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "(Joe Miller Field) is a tough place to play with a great atmosphere.
 
"Any conference series is important, but it's pretty tough to go down there and win. We have to play our style and control what we can control."
 
Since 2013, NSU and McNeese have combined for 10 of the possible 12 conference regular season and tournament titles.
 
Early in that stretch, NSU punched its NCAA Tournament ticket with tournament crowns in 2013 and 2014 before taking the regular season title in 2015.
 
McNeese won regular season titles in 2013 and 2014, but the Lady Cowgirls started making national postseason runs by winning both crowns in 2016 and 2017 with a tournament title in 2018.
 
The only other teams to win an SLC title in that stretch are Nicholls (2018 regular season) and Central Arkansas (2015 SLC Tournament, beating NSU in the finals).
 
NSU and McNeese had different experiences in their midweek matchups leading up to this pivotal series.
 
The Lady Demons dropped an 11-3 contest to Louisiana Tech (receiving votes in national Top 25 polls) after the Lady Techsters piled up eight first-inning runs. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak, which included series wins at Sam Houston State and a sweep of Abilene Christian.
 
The Cowgirls knocked off No. 9 UL Lafayette, 5-4, in 11 innings, McNeese's first win against the Ragin' Cajuns since 2010.
 
"We'll definitely have to play better early down there than we did (Wednesday)," Pickett said. "We have to be ready to play, play from the first pitch to the last, and not go out there to feel things out."
 
NSU trails opponents 27-12 in the first inning this season, making up ground in the third inning (32-16) and fifth inning (29-15).
 
The Lady Demons' 5-1 league start matches the 2018 beginning in which NSU started 5-1 and eventually 8-1. But NSU dropped two of three games to McNeese and finished league play 14-13.
 
McNeese has won three straight series (all 2-1) and has a 10-8 edge since 2013, but NSU holds a 78-74 all-time edge.