COMMERCE, Texas – Through three conference weekends Northwestern State has been "right there" with all their opponents.
 
Close game after close game. Big rallies to tie games in the late stages. Multiple opportunities to win games against the top teams in the conference. All have come up short. The Demons look to change that fortune this weekend.
 
The second road Southland Conference series of the season takes the Demons (3-28, 0-9) to East Texas A&M (7-25, 3-6) for three games. Friday's doubleheader begins at 5 p.m. with Saturday's single game set for a 12 p.m. start. All games are scheduled to air on ESPN+.
 
"It's encouraging that we're putting ourselves in that position to win games at the end which is important but just haven't been able to get over that hump the past few weeks," associate head coach and hitting coach Brad Fuller said. "We've been talking a lot about our mindset and breathing because when the game's on the line we need to be at our best when our best is needed. We just have to keep working so we can produce late in the game."
 
The Demons have had five of their nine league games so far this year decided by two runs or less, and six decided by three or less. Add in a 3-0 loss on Tuesday against Louisiana Tech, and there have been seven games decided by a slim margin out of the past 11 played.
 
"It kind of lights a fire in you," sophomore Aly Delafield said. "We keep hearing we're 'right there' after games. Our parents, everyone saying 'we're right there, we're right there' but we're tired of that being the case. I'm tired of hearing we're young which is what Coach (Jenny) Fuller has been instilling in us is not an excuse anymore. If we're playing that well against them and we're the youngest team in the nation, we can still win.
 
"So, we're focusing on the little things, having intent and being all-in on every pitch. That's gotten us close in those game so if we keep doing that and doing those little things the timely hits will come, the big strikeouts will come the big plays will come. We just have to keep working hard, believing in each other and not settling for being that close. Prove that you want to win."
 
Delafield has been a key part of the Demons chances throughout the past two weeks of games. After a 6-for-10 weekend at the plate against Southeastern, and another hit on Tuesday against Tech, she has 11 hits in the past seven games and is batting .524 during that stretch. She has had one three-hit game in each of the past two conference series and her .500 batting average in conference games for the season is tied for the fourth highest.
 
After going 11 straight games without a hit, Delafield has become one of the hottest hitters not only in the Demon lineup, but in the entire conference.
 
"I've been putting in a lot more work outside of practice, asking teammates to stay or if I see someone else staying after I'm like 10 more minutes won't hurt," Delafield said. "By doing that it's given me a lot more confidence to trust the preparation and work that I'm putting in.
 
"Coach (Brad) Fuller is big on the little things and not overly analyzing stuff. I can go to him saying I was doing this and that and he's like it's just your timing and simplifies things for us. He's helped me realize it's not as complicated as I may think it is and to really look at the simple things when I feel like not doing what I need to do."
 
As a team the Demons have had two double-digit hit games the past two weekends matching their season total through the first five weeks combined.
 
Like the Demons, the Lions have been putting together strings of hits and, even more recently, suffered their own set of close game losses.
 
After a home sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi two weeks ago, where they outscored the Islanders 24-4, the Lions were swept on the road at Lamar this past weekend, losing all three games by a combined four runs.
 
They lost 8-7 in extra innings in the opener followed by 6-4 and 5-4 losses in the final two games. They are 4-8 this year in games decided by two runs or less while the Demons are 2-9, five of those losses coming against Southland opponents.
 
"We're going to have to go in focused and expect a big fight from them," Fuller said. "They're playing well. They swept Corpus and played three really close games against Lamar this past weekend. It's not going to be easy. We're going to have to work hard and fight until the end. 
 
"It doesn't matter how well you play the first few innings you have to play all seven to win the game. I think it's a good opportunity to go out and win some game and win a series on the road but at the same time we are going to have to play well and do things right with a full team effort."