Winner of six of its last seven games, the Northwestern State softball team enters one of its most pivotal stretches of the season at home this weekend, opening a six-game run against the very teams it’s battling in the Southland Conference standings.
The Lady Demons (20-19 overall, 9-6 in the SLC) welcome UIW (25-14, 10-5) to town for a three-game series beginning today with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. and concluding Saturday at 12 p.m. All three games will stream on ESPN+, with Friday’s opener and Saturday’s finale also airing locally on 100.7 FM KZBL.
The matchup carries added weight as NSU and UIW sit among a tightly packed group chasing second place in the conference standings, and the opportunity to host one of the first-round tournament brackets the first weekend of May.
“This is the time of year where you want to be playing your best softball,” head coach Jenny Fuller said. “We talk a lot about peaking at the right time and hopefully that is what we’re doing. Winning that last game on the road and taking the series at Stephen F. Austin is a huge momentum boost that hopefully we can carry into this weekend.”
Northwestern returns home riding that momentum after taking two of three at SFA, marking the first time since 2021 it has won two of its first three conference road series. The Demons also boast their best conference win total through five series since 2022 and their first winning record at this point in the season since 2023.
The series anchors a full weekend at the Demon Diamond. Today’s doubleheader carries the tag of Military Appreciation Night, with free admission for all military personnel with valid ID.
The series is the program’s annual Alumni Weekend. Following Saturday’s finale, the rescheduled Softball Mardi Gras Auction will take place at Flying Heart Brewery, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
NSU leans on a lineup that continues to heat up, led by the recent surge from Peyton Young. The junior transfer carries a team-best nine-game hitting streak into the weekend and has reached base in 12 straight contests.
Young is batting .467 during that stretch with a 1.314 OPS, raising her season average to .338. She also delivered key moments in last weekend’s series win, both at the plate and defensively.
“More than anything I think she’s just playing with a lot of confidence,” Fuller said. “We knew that she was capable of what she’s doing and now she’s showing it and getting in a groove. She’s come through in key situations offensively and defensively and has been a spark that we needed in our lineup.”
In the circle, Mattison Buster continues to anchor the Demons with one of the most dominant seasons in the conference. The junior earned her third SLC Pitcher of the Week honor after going 3-0 with two shutouts and a 0.33 ERA across 21 innings last week.
Buster leads the Southland in wins (17), complete games (15), innings pitched (142.1), shutouts (6) and appearances (29), while holding opponents to a .222 batting average. Her 17 wins are tied for the most by a Demon pitcher since 2013.
UIW presents one of the toughest offensive tests in the league. The Cardinals lead the conference in batting average (.340), home runs (46) and runs scored (270), with six players hitting above .300.
“They’re really good hitters,” Fuller said. “So it’s going to come down to our pitchers doing what they do best and making them hit our best pitches and then going after their weaknesses at the right time.”
The centerpiece of the Cardinals’ lineup is two-time defending SLC Player of the Year Victoria Altamirano, who leads the league with a .440 average, 17 home runs and 51 RBIs. Her 1.560 OPS ranks among the nation’s best, and she enters the weekend on an 11-game hitting streak while reaching base in 23 straight games.
UIW comes to Natchitoches fresh off a dominant sweep of Houston Christian, outscoring the Huskies 32-0 in three run-rule victories.
With postseason positioning on the line and two of the conference’s hottest teams squaring off, the weekend sets up as a measuring stick series for a Northwestern squad looking to continue its late-season push.
