NATCHITOCHES – After a grueling opening weekend against top competition, Northwestern State softball gets little time to dwell on the results. A chance to turn the page comes quickly with Tuesday's home opener.
 
In the earliest home opening softball game since 1999, the Demons (0-5) host Grambling (1-3) at 5 p.m. at the Demon Diamond. Tickets are available by visiting nsutickets.com or can be purchased at the gate.
 
The one day reset for the Demons allows an opportunity to digest the good and not so good from a marathon of five games in three days at the Getterman Classic at Baylor. And despite the final scores, there were quite a few, and noticeable, positives leading into Tuesday's home opener.
 
"After a tough weekend, I want to see resilience and urgency," head coach Jenny Fuller said. "I want players who own what happened, take responsibility, learn from it and come back to work with real energy and purpose."
 
For extended periods of time throughout the weekend the Demons showed what they are capable of doing and what ultimately stands to be the identity of the 2026 team by the end of the year.
 
The pitching staff, led by junior transfer Mattison Buster, held Mississippi State to just one run over the final three innings, limited New Mexico to just five runs in two full games, and gave up three runs over the final six innings against Wichita State.
 
Buster tossed her second career complete game on Sunday against the Lobos and threw 15 2/3 total innings on the weekend, making just one start. She also led the team with 13 strikeouts and a 1.15 WHIP.
 
Offensively the Demons put up two crooked number innings on the weekend, a pair of three-run innings coming against No. 24 Mississippi State and Wichita State on consecutive days. It took 17 games for NSU to score three or more runs one inning in two different games in 2025.
 
Makynlie Jones led the team with three doubles and four RBI on the weekend, with four total hits, while Brynn Daniel delivered four hits and scored two runs.
 
All-American transfer JT Smith has reached base in four straight games including hits in the past three and JUCO All-American Sister Arnold reached base in all five games over the weekend. 
 
It was also Jones and Smith that provided the thing that every team covets, the clutch hit. Smith delivered a two-run single for her first hit as a Demon while Jones narrowly missed a game-tying grand slam against Wichita State to drive in three runs with one swing.
 
If not for one or two defensive plays, both by their opponents and by the Demons themselves, the weekend might have looked drastically different from a win-loss perspective.
 
NSU hosts Grambling for the third time in the past four years in the front end of a home-and-home this season. The Tigers are coming off a 1-3 opening weekend at the Jackson State HBCU Invitational where they won their Sunday finale 15-12 against Alabama A&M, coming back from an 8-0 deficit after the top of the first inning to win the game.
 
Fans should arrive early for pregame fireworks and the first game at the Demon Diamond with the new videoboard.
 
"There's always a lot of excitement about the first home game of the season," Fuller said. "Our players take a lot of pride in playing on our field and we're looking forward to competing in front of our fans and bouncing back."