HUNSTVILLE, Texas -- After the Northwestern State softball team competed well against No. 10 LSU, coach Donald Pickett said he thought Tuesday's efforts could be a "turning point."
 
NSU (8-12) started to play better toward the end of a tough weekend at Arkansas' Wooo Pig Classic,  and even in a 10-3 loss Tuesday which was tied at 2-2 in the fifth inning, Pickett thought the increased energy level could serve as a "wake up call."
 
Any boost will be welcomed as the Lady Demons start Southland Conference play at Sam Houston State with a Friday doubleheader at 4 p.m. and a Saturday noon series finale.
 
"We're getting some energy back after sustaining it in the last of the Arkansas tournament and then against LSU," Pickett said. "We have to continue playing with that energy and create more confidence in what we're doing, and we'll have more success as a team.
 
"We're getting more comfortable with each other every game out. The kids are settling into the roles we're asking of them, now we're wanting more confidence and a more consistent approach."
 
The Lady Demons are trying to snap a six-game losing streak after five losses in Arkansas and the home loss to LSU. But NSU pieced together a six-game winning streak before this past week as the Lady Demons will try to recreate those vibes on the road in conference play.
 
NSU plays five of its nine SLC series on the road this season, and the Lady Demons will need to find their road legs after being 0-3 in true road games this season and 2-11 away from Lady Demon Diamond. Those true road losses include No. 12 Arkansas, No. 16 Texas and North Texas.
 
The Lady Demons' two wins away from home include Boise State (receiving votes at the time) and Boston College with four other one-run losses.
 
Sam Houston State (8-12) has also faced a brutal non-conference schedule with four ranked opponents and seven Power 5 programs, including a win against Illinois.  
Pitcher Lindsay McLeod (4-6, 3.29 ERA) is the league's reigning pitcher of the week after nearly 12 scoreless innings in wins against UT Martin and Loyola-Chicago.
 
NSU (14-13 in the SLC in 2018) earned the No. 7 seed and topped Abilene Christian in a first-round game before losing the next two in the SLC Tournament.
 
"It'll be a tough test going to Sam Houston State, especially with McLeod throwing really well right now," Pickett said. "That's a good program down there, and hopefully we've been tested enough in non-conference play that we'll be ready to play our style and worry about what we do well.
 
"We certainly want to win this series, and that would be a great start to conference play on the road against a team we expect to return to the SLC Tournament."
 
NSU counters with an offense that's finding its legs with the steadying presence of All-Southland Conference performers Cayla Jones (.327 average, three home runs) and Kaitlyn St. Clair (17 hits, .382 on-base percentage).
 
Jones has five hits in her last two games, including a career-tying 4-for-4 in an extra-innings loss to Nevada.
 
St. Clair, a Cypress, Texas, native will be playing relatively close to home this weekend. Her father will have his tournament team in attendance, which includes her sister Kassidy.
 
"It'll be exciting to see this team that I help coach during the summers when I go back home, and they're really excited to see some college softball," St. Clair said. "As an offense, we're seeing pitches better and attacking opposing pitchers better in the last two games.
 
"We feel more relaxed with conference play coming up because we know what to expect. Throughout the season, we've had the top of the lineup hitting, the middle hitting and the bottom hitting. Now we just have to put it all together."
 
Freshmen Alexis Perry and Riley Cantrell lead the team with 15 RBIs each, including all three against LSU.
 
Perry supplied two of those RBIs, including a game-tying home run in the fourth inning. Five different freshmen have accounted 35 of NSU's 70 RBIs this season.
 
Perry was the SLC Hitter of the Week two weeks ago when she produced eight RBIs on 8-of-16 from the plate in the same week that Cantrell had nine RBIs.
 
Another freshman in Bronte Rhoden leads the pitching staff in wins (4) and innings pitched (43 2/3) after battling LSU (four runs in 4 1/3 innings) on Tuesday.
 
NSU and SHSU will play a regular season series for the first time since 2016.
 
Senior pitcher Mikayla Brown topped SHSU twice in 2017 in the programs' last meetings, once in a non-conference regular season game and a second time in the SLC Tournament. She combined for 14 innings with just one unearned run allowed.
 
SHSU leads the all-time series 63-54, but NSU has won seven of the last eight meetings since 2015.