MOBILE, Ala. – There is a quote that reads, "one good thing about being young is that you're not experienced enough to know what can't be done."  

 

That phrase stands to be a rally point for the 2025 Northwestern State softball team. 

 

No team in all of Division I softball has a higher percentage of underclassmen. The 2025 Demons consist of 17 underclassmen on its 18-player roster. Four of the five returners from a season ago are in just their second season of collegiate softball and none of the 13 newcomers, 11 of them true freshman, have any Division I experience. 

 

"We are really young," first-year head coach Jenny Fuller said. "We're one of the youngest teams in the country. But every single day we talk about how that doesn't matter. We can go out there and compete with anybody if we just work hard, do the little things and the big things will take care of themselves." 

 

The hard work the youthful Demons have put in throughout the preseason will begin to show itself on the field on Friday morning. NSU opens the 2025 season at the South Alabama Invitational where it will play five games over the course of three days.  

 

Friday's doubleheader begins at 9 a.m. against Murray State. Only the matchup with host South Alabama on Saturday afternoon will be available on ESPN+. The full weekend schedule is available at www.nsudemons.com. 

 

One other benefit to youth is having buckets of energy, something that has been infectious to the team's lone upperclassman, Bailie Ragsdale. 

 

The only senior on the team, Ragsdale has started more than 130 games at NSU, more Division I starts than all of her teammates combined. She has collected over 100 hits in her career, played multiple positions and done everything that's been asked of her for the past three seasons. Experience that she hopes will help make the transition to college softball easier for her teammates. 

 

"They call me the grandma,"Radgsdale joked. "But I think it's that I've kind of brought them under the wing so it's not that stressful to them. They talk to me sometimes before the coaches and if they need anything they can come to me. I help them a lot but they help me a lot too, it's been a lot of fun so far. 

 

"I feel like I'm a freshman or sophomore again. I'm just going day by day doing my best to try and teach them and show them what softball is like at this level and what it takes. Because it is hard, it is a challenge and you're being asked every day to do something you may not be used to doing. Just getting them up to speed on what to expect." 

 

There will no doubt be a learning curve for the handful of players that will make their Division I debuts this weekend. Acclimation to the speed of the game, the smaller margin of error and levels of focus that it takes to find success all will take some getting used to for many of the Demons. 

 

One thing that won't be new, and something that Fuller has instilled in the team since day one, is the hard work mindset that it takes to find that comfort on the field, at the plate or in the circle. 

 

"The biggest thing for this weekend is that we just want them to go out there and compete," Fuller said. "Don't worry about the results so much. Just go out there, have fun, play with energy and give it their all. If they do that hopefully we can come away with a few wins, but if not we know that we worked hard and did our best."