MEMPHIS, Tenn. – One of New York Yankee legend Yogi Berra's most famous quotes about baseball is, "90 percent of the game is half mental." As Northwestern State enters the final non-conference weekend of the season, head coach Donald Pickett couldn't agree more.
 
One of Pickett's takeaways from the three-game sweep at Houston this past weekend was the need for more mental toughness and savvy from the team. He issued a challenge to them following Sunday's 5-0 loss and based on the early returns, the message has been heard.
 
The Lady Demons (14-11) took both games of a doubleheader on Wednesday at Jackson State after the four-hour bus ride that morning to arrive at the game. They battled through wet field conditions and had two of their best hitting performances of the season, 10 hits in each game, and got more quality pitching in both games.
 
"Our kids have got great ability and can do some really great things," Pickett said. "It's (mental toughness) part of being young and growing as a player and we want them to continue to develop that. Right now, that's one thing we're challenging them with, and I think they'll take it and run with it and do some great things the rest of the year."
 
NSU takes the midweek momentum into its final non-conference weekend with four games at the Tiger Classic in Memphis. 
 
The weekend starts with a pair of games against 2021 WCWS darling James Madison (6-10) and East Tennessee State (4-17) beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday and ends with another matchup with ETSU and host Memphis (9-16) on Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m.
 
The 20 hits from the Lady Demons on Wednesday was the second time this season they have had consecutive double-digit hit games. The top four batters of the lineup did the most damage with 14 of the 20 including four extra-base hits, twice as many as they had in the three-game set this past weekend.
 
Freshman Sage Hoover bounced back in the circle following her shortest start of the season against the Cougars with six shutout innings and fourth complete game, while Bronte Rhoden continued her resurgence going six innings allowing just one earned run and three hits.
 
All serving as indicators of a message and challenged received prior to the start of conference play next week.
 
Just like the previous five weekends, the Lady Demons schedule of opponents is no picnic and lacks the sweetness akin to the sauces that adorn the ribs all over town.
 
Pickett is eager to see how the team finds its fit and how players adopt to their roles on the team that will set them up for the most success starting with Houston Baptist next Friday.
 
"It's really just like every other weekend so far," he said. "We've played some really good teams and we're going to have to play our best. It's going to challenge us and hopefully we'll be able to settle in on what role everybody has earned going into the conference season. Hope we'll be able to put it all together and gain some momentum going into conference play."