NATCHITOCHES – Each week Northwestern State softball continues to take steps forward in its rebuild. The Demons look to take another this week hosting East Texas A&M in a three-game series beginning on Friday. 
 
The fourth conference series of the year begins with a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and concludes with a noon first pitch on Saturday. All three games will air on ESPN+ with the opener on Friday and the finale on Saturday also available locally in Natchitoches on 100.7 KZBL.
 
Northwestern State (14-18, 4-5) enters the weekend looking to turn a pair of close loses on the road with conference-leading Southeastern into wins at home against a different set of Lions (6-28, 1-8) from the conference.
 
"It's always painful to lose games like that because we want to win but I think we played really well against them on the road which was promising," head coach Jenny Fuller said. "We really only had one bad inning against them and played really good ball the rest of the series. Not into moral victories but it was another step in the right direction for us."
 
The Demons stranded eight runners in the opener and 10 in the finale against the Lady Lions, the most left on base in a single game this season. Northwestern State has left at least five runners on base in all but one conference game this year and is hitting .280 with runners in scoring position overall, but just .222 in that situation through the first nine league contests.
 
"Coach Brad (Fuller) has been working with them on their approaches at the plate and we're hoping to really start to find some solidity in the lineup," Fuller said. "But at the end of the day it comes down to confidence. Knowing that we're a good offensive team and we can string some hits and runs together, passing the bat and capable of hitting any pitcher."  
 
JT Smith has continued to be the spark at the top of the NSU lineup, riding her recent hot streak to a team-best .337 batting average. She is reaching base in nearly half of her plate appearances with a .492 on-base percentage, the second-highest mark in the Southland.
 
Despite the road sweep this past weekend, the Demons only allowed five runs across the final 14 innings of the series, requiring Southeastern to provide late-game dramatics to earn the final two wins. 
 
Mattison Buster allowed just three hits in the game three finale, notching her league-leading 11th complete game of the season. Brooklynn Stohler also threw a complete game against Southeastern, going 6 1/3 strong innings in game two, scattering seven hits and allowing just one run before the walk-off home run that ended the game in the seventh.
 
"Brooklynn and Grace (Birk) stepped up in a big way gave us some real meaningful innings," Fuller said. "I think that just gave them confidence coming into East Texas this weekend."
 
East Texas A&M arrives in Natchitoches looking to snap a four-game skid after being swept by Lamar last weekend and falling 8-6 to Grambling in midweek action. The Lions have dropped 24 of their last 25 games, with their lone win in that stretch coming during the second conference weekend at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
Senior Tatum Wright, a second-team all-conference selection a year ago, leads the Lions offensively with a .348 batting average and 1.117 OPS. Wright has hit eight of the team's 11 home runs this season and ranks among the Southland leaders after adding two more in Tuesday's game.
 
Junior Madison Kloepper (4-9) has handled the bulk of the work in the circle with 76 innings pitched this season. East Texas A&M has used seven different pitchers and enters the weekend with a staff ERA above 8.50 while opponents are batting .368 and scoring an average of 8.8 runs per game.
 
"Despite what their team ERA may be we've told our hitters that any pitcher is capable of having a good game any given day," Fuller said. "But I think we have the opportunity to gain some confidence at the plate and get things rolling."
 
Friday's doubleheader will serve as NSU softball's annual Fork Cancer game, with special guests scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the series opener. Saturday's finale is set for Fan Appreciation Day, with games and giveaways planned before and during the contest.