Any coach will tell you a player that is committed, willing to do whatever it takes to help the team, loyal, tough and gives it their all on every play is someone they want on their team.
For the past four years Bailie Ragsdale has been just that for the Northwestern State softball program.
From a small town in East Texas, Ragsdale has been a starter since she stepped on campus in the fall of 2021. Either at one of the three outfield spots or on the right side of the infield at second base, she has been written into the lineup card a total of 167 times across the past four seasons.
She will finish with 170 starts in her career this weekend as the otherwise extremely young Demons (6-41, 3-21) close the regular season with a three-game series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (10-35, 4-20).
The series begins with today’s doubleheader at 4 p.m., also serving as softball’s annual Fork Cancer game. The first 50 fans at the game will receive a free Fork Cancer shirt.
Saturday’s finale, set for noon, will serve as Senior Day for Ragsdale with a presentation taking place following the game. All three games are scheduled to air on ESPN+ as the Demons attempt to earn a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament next week.
The Demons need a win in all three games against the Islanders this weekend while looking for help from HCU in a three-game sweep of East Texas A&M in Houston. Should both occur, the Demons would be the No. 8 seed in next week’s tournament.
A trip to the conference tournament would serve as the latest growth opportunity for the youngest team in the country, with Ragsdale, the only upperclassman on the roster.
“She’s been in a really difficult spot this season as our only senior,” first-year head coach Jenny Fuller said. “She doesn’t really have anybody else that she can talk to that’s in the same sort of stage of life as she is. I think she’s done such a good job of being that example for the younger players, showing them how we’re going to play hard and how Demon softball is going to be.”
Entering the year Ragsdale had started more games at NSU, 132, than all her current teammates combined.
As the elder statesman on the team, Ragsdale was thrust into a leadership role.
“You kind of have to go into that teaching role rather than expecting everyone to know what they’re doing,” Ragsdale said. “At the beginning of the year most of the team didn’t know and that’s what growing in this game is. Softball is a sport that allows you the chance to grow every day and learn something new. Teaching them and helping them develop and mature throughout the year has been what I’ve done this year. Just being their source for everything, whatever it may be.”
Teaching the newcomers what life at the DI level looks like and serving as a “bridge to our team and the pulse of the team,” according to Fuller, was personified by the way that she has played the game since her freshman season.
That approach has helped Ragsdale accrue more than 130 hits, 75 runs scored, 20 stolen bases, 200 putouts and 120 assists with an on-base percentage of .345 and batting average at nearly .300 for her career.
“When I came here for my very first visit it felt like home,” Ragsdale said. “My cousin (Kaylee Isenberg) had been here the four years prior, so I knew Natchitoches. I loved Natchitoches. I came to NSU not just for softball but for the culture and atmosphere that Natchitoches itself holds. My first year here I called this place my home.”
AFTER RUN-RULE WIN AT LSU, BASEBALL GOES TO SFA: Beginning today in Nacogdoches, Texas, at 6:05 p.m., the Demons will see if they can maintain a different type of momentum – one that goes from game to game – as they open their final three-game Southland Conference road series of the year at Stephen F. Austin. The series also includes a 3:05 p.m. Saturday matchup and a 1:05 p.m. Sunday series finale. Sunday’s game will air on ESPN+ while all free streaming audio of all three games will be available through http://www.NSUDemons.com and the Northwestern State Athletics mobile app, which can be downloaded free for Apple and Android devices.
“The lesson is about how to strike a balance,” Demons’ coach Chris Bertrand said. “We appreciate all the compliments and the way Tuesday night (a 13-3 run-rule win at No. 4 LSU) moved people. I want the players to enjoy that aspect of it. I want them to be proud of – and have a sense of pride in – the accomplishment because of the way it moves and it impacts so many people around the program. There is something to be taken from that, and there is joy in that. You balance the scales on the baseball side of it by saying, ‘How do we use it to continue on that upward path?’ The arms we faced. The way we played. The way we were able to be successful.
“You want the baseball part of it to be learned and then put behind to focus on the task that is at hand Friday night against what will be another quality opponent in a really tough road environment. The lesson continues to be we want to balance it out.”
That task for Northwestern (25-17, 15-9) is to remain level-headed after collecting its first win against a ranked team in six seasons while also handing the nationally ranked Tigers their first run-rule loss in a non-conference game in program history.
Like Northwestern, Stephen F. Austin (11-28, 3-18) already has surpassed its win total from the 2024 season.
For the first time since the opening weekend of conference play, Northwestern will have a different three-man starting rotation for a weekend series. Freshman left-hander Carter White (2-1, 2.29) will start today’s opener and will be followed by right-handers Tyler Bryan (1-5, 5.82) and Trent Hillen (6-1, 3.51). the reigning Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week, in the final two games.
TRACK & FIELD AT LSU SATURDAY: The annual LSU Alumni Gold meet Saturday at Bernie Moore Track Stadium provides another opportunity for the strong NSU teams to measure up against some of the country’s top performers, with the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships now fast approaching May 15-17 in Houston.