NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State picked up, by all accounts, the upset win of the entire 2025 softball season this past weekend.
 
The youngest team in the country not only beat the No. 20 ranked team in the nation in Mississippi State, they did so in shutout fashion holding the high-powered Bulldog lineup to just three hits in the game.
 
Brooklynn Stohler benefited from a four-run sixth inning that pushed the NSU lead to five as she completed her conference leading seventh complete game of the year to earn her first career shutout.
 
Now it is what do the Demons (3-17) do with that win as they enter the most important portion of the schedule – conference play.
 
NSU hosts HCU (6-11) in the first Southland Conference series of the season beginning with the traditional Friday doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. with Saturday's single game set for a 12 p.m. start. All games will air on ESPN+.
 
"It was a big game for us," sophomore Cameron Curtis said about the game against State. "Going in we all had positive energy and knowing we had nothing to lose. Honestly it felt a lot like a state championship all over again. Just so much energy in the dugout. Everyone was feeding off each other and that helped everyone stay positive. It was just an incredible feeling."
 
Curtis tapped into those moments she regularly experienced during her time at North DeSoto HS and its multiple state title runs during her prep season. She was one of two players, Sophia Livers the other, to have a pair of his in the win. Curtis also scored two runs and drove in another in the biggest win of first-year head coach Jenny Fuller's tenure as a Demon.
 
"I think that it's going to give us a lot of confidence heading into this weekend," Fuller said. "HCU has some good players on their team, but what we did on Sunday should give us the confidence that we can play with anybody no matter. Hopefully we keep that same attitude that we had against Mississippi State and take care of business."
 
The Demons put all three phases together in the game for the first time this year. They got shutdown pitching from Stohler, played light's out defense behind her and got multiple timely hits to secure the win.
 
Putting that all together on a consistent basis, plus the attitude, confidence and energy, is what the Demons look to continue to see more of as this young team continues to develop.  
 
"Our players understand who and what we are this year," Fuller said. "They know that we are going to have adversity that we're going to face. But to see the pitching, hitting and defense come together all in one game, in one of the toughest games of the year, was really cool to be a part of. And I think it was huge for them to see it all come together like it did and get that taste of winning to go along with it."
 
The Huskies enter the first conference series following a 3-2 weekend at the annual Mardi Gras Mambo in Youngsville, La. The finished the five-game slate with a 10-2 run-rule win over West Georgia on Sunday.
 
They are led offensively by a pair of preseason all-conference players in AB Garcia and Haylie Savage who are both hitting over .400 on the season with an OPS over 1.000.
 
Garcia is off to a torrid start this year, with a .518 batting average. The leadoff batter and table setter for the Huskies has nine multi-hit games out of the 17 total with five three-hit games. She finished the final three games of the Mardi Gras Mambo going 9-for-12 at the plate with three hits in each game and six total runs scored.
 
As Garcia goes, so do the Huskies. HCU does not have a win this year where Garcia did not reach base at least two times in the game. 
 
"We need to keep the energy high and stay positive for the entire game," Curtis said. "Just keep building off each other. If someone messes up, pick them up which is something that the coaches talk to us about a lot in practice and in games. Just keep building off each other and help each other out."