NATCHITOCHES -- After the Northwestern State softball team fell in its first and only home Southland Conference loss of the season Sunday against Central Arkansas, the Lady Demons made a pact standing in the outfield
 
"We made a pact to not be beat again at home," said senior pitcher Mikayla Brown. "We're going to come in here and fight, and it's exciting that the tournament is on our home field."
 
NSU is hosting the Southland Conference Tournament starting Tuesday, and the No. 6 seed Lady Demons (28-25, 15-12 SLC) will face No. 7 seed Lamar (23-33, 14-13) in a single-elimination tournament game at 1:30 p.m. The tournament, which brings seven teams and their fan bases to Natchitoches for several days, is supported by the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission and the Natchitoches Convention and Tourism Bureau.
 
If fans can't attend in person, they can watch on the Southland Sports Digital Network or listen to play-by-play announcer Patrick Netherton on nsudemons.com or on KZBL 100.7 FM.
 
The winner advances to the double-elimination portion of the bracket and will see No. 3 seed McNeese (28-28, 19-8), the two-time defending tournament champions, in a game slated for 6:30 Tuesday. 
 
The Lady Demons have been stellar at home, posting an 11-1 SLC record at Lady Demon Diamond that doesn't include a pair of non-conference wins against league member Houston Baptist. NSU went 20-3 at home with its other two losses coming to LSU and Louisiana Tech.
 
"We play so much better at home, and we're more aggressive in every aspect," said senior outfielder Kayla Roquemore. "It's a big advantage to be at home, and we're ready to take it and go full speed."
 
Lamar took the regular-season series 2-1 in Beaumont in late April, winning games of 5-0 and 4-3 with NSU's win coming in 6-5 fashion.
 
The Lady Demons scored all six runs in their final at-bat helped by a Cayla Jones three-RBI double.
 
"Both of these teams are totally different than what we were a month ago," said NSU coach Donald Pickett. "Lamar has some really good pitchers and some outs in their lineups.
 
"We've moved Elise Vincent up to the leadoff spot, and we want her to continue to set the table. Out middle of the lineup has been pretty consistent, and we've gotten some big production from the bottom at times. We'll need to get those timely hits, get a few extra-base hits to put up crooked numbers."
 
Vincent (.296 batting average), freshman Alexis Perry (.297) and sophomore Cayla Jones (.333) lead NSU at the plate with Jones and freshman Riley Cantrell each driving in a team-high 31 RBIs.
 
The Lady Demons tout one of the deepest pitching staffs in the league as four pitchers have logged 70 innings.
 
Brown is the reigning SLC Pitcher of the Week with two shutouts, and the pair of wins moves her into sixth place all-time on NSU's career wins list with 46.
 
Sophomore E.C. Delafield (9-3) and junior Samantha Guile (9-11) lead the team in wins, providing stability at the top of the rotation. Freshman Bronte Rhoden (5-3) has excelled in a relief role this season.
 
"We feel good about this staff, and they've kept us in games the past few weeks," Pickett said. "We're feeling more comfortable with some of the defensive changes we've made now that's it's been a few weeks, and that helps our pitchers be more confident."
 
NSU will attempt to continue host team success as the home team has advanced to the tournament championship or won the event four of the last six seasons.
 
The Lady Demons hosted in 2013 and 2015 since the renovations to the complex, taking the tournament title in 2013 and reaching the championship game in 2015.
 
NSU is the most successful current SLC member in tournament play, winning more than 62 percent of its tournament games and reaching the championship series 10 times (five championships).
 
Two of those tournament titles have come in the Pickett era (2013 and 2014), and the Lady Demons have reached postseason play in six of the last seven seasons.
 
"We've learned to fight through some things," said junior Emma Hawthorne, who's raised her batting average nearly 100 points to .287. "It doesn't matter what seed anybody is, whomever the most mentally tough is the one who is going to come out on top.
 
"You only get four years here, and it's really awesome that we get to host while I'm here."