Preseason SLC Favorite Demons Visit
3/24/2016 12:09:00 PM | Softball
Northwestern State makes its first appearance at the Bearkat Softball Complex since the 2012 season Friday and Saturday when the Demons visit Sam Houston for a three-game Southland Conference series.
Action starts Friday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader. The second contest will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the series opener. The two teams will play a single game Saturday at 3 p.m. to complete the Demons' visit.
Northwestern State has been a powerhouse in the Southland the past three years. The Demons won both the 2013 and 2014 Southland Conference post-season tournament titles. Last season Northwestern State was the league's regular season champion.
Due to the schedule rotations of the Southland Conference, the Bearkats versus Demons battles have all been played in Natchitoches the last three years. Northwestern State dropped a pair to the Kats in 2012 in the program's last visit to Huntsville.
Sam Houston split with the Demons in Louisiana during the 2013 regular season then won one of three games in the post-season tournament in Natchitoches. The Demons edged Sam Houston 5-4 in the 2013 championship game. The Demons won 7-5 and 6-3 on their home turf in 2014 and 2-5 and 8-0 in Natchitoches last spring.
Picked as the preseason favorite again in 2016, the Demons are off to a 3-3 start in league action. Northwestern State took two of three games against Houston Baptist then dropped two of three to Incarnate Word last weekend. After a 5-4 non-conference loss to Louisiana-Monroe earlier this week, the Demons bring an 18-10 overall record to Huntsville.
Sam Houston stands 6-19 this year and is 1-5 in Southland action. The Bearkats' first league victory came in a 2-0 game versus Nicholls on a wet Saturday night in Thibodaux, La., last weekend.
Tuesday the Bearkats dropped a non-conference doubleheader at the University of Houston, falling 10-8 and 15-4.
“We're hitting the ball better,” Sam Houston head coach Bob Brock said. “There's still a lot of softball left to play and our young team is working hard. Northwestern State always has an outstanding team so this will be a big series for us.”
Sam Houston pounded out 17 hits in 12 innings against the Cougars Tuesday, collecting three doubles and a home run along the way.
Second baseman Dani Allen leads the team with a .371 average. Outfielder Breanna Homer and infielder Tiffany Castillo are the team's long ball hitters. Homer has collected three doubles, a triple and two home runs among her 21 hits this season. Castillo has totaled six doubles.
Six players have worked in the circle for the Bearkats this season. Lindsey McLeod, Taylor Atkinson and Jordan Franks have received the bulk of the work with appearance totals of 17, 16 and 13 games, respectively.
The Demons' offense is led by one of the top hitters in the league, Kellye Kincannon. The junior outfielder is hitting .409 with 11 doubles, two triples and seven home runs this year. Infielder Micayla Sorosiak sports a .351 average and junior Brittney Jones is hitting .317 with five home runs.
All-Southland Conference pitcher Micaela Bouvier leads Northwestern State in the circle with a 10-4 record and a .269 earned run average.
This weekend's action is the beginning of a nine-game home series for the Bearkats. Next up at the Softball Complex will be a single game with Texas Southern Tuesday, March 29; a non-conference doubleheader with Louisiana-Monroe Wednesday, March 30 and a Southland Conference series with Southeastern Louisiana Friday and Saturday, April 1-2.
