Northwestern State Softball
DONALD PICKETT
Head Coach 12th Season Overall (297-293-1) 12th Season at NSU Donald Pickett posted his fifth 30-win season in his 11-year tenure at Northwestern State as he led a young bunch against a challenging schedule. The 2019 Lady Demons (30-27) won their most overall games, Southland Conference games (15) and league tournament games (two) since taking the regular season title in 2015. He had seven freshmen and sophomores start at least 20 games with three of his four pitchers being underclassmen or newcomers. Pickett became the Northwestern State softball’s all-time winningest coach toward the beginning of the 2018 season and has six winning seasons in the last seven years. His 297 wins represents a turnaround at NSU that includes three Southland Conference titles (2013 and 2014 tournament championships and 2015 regular season title) as he guided the Lady Demons to two NCAA Tournaments. NSU has made seven postseason trips in his 11-year tenure. In 2018, freshman Cayla Jones was selected to the NFCA All-Region First Team, only the third player in school history to earn that honor. Jones followed that with the All-Louisiana Freshman of the Year. Jones led three all-conference selections in 2019, joined by sophomore E.C. Delafield and junior Elise Vincent. Pickett is known for his offensive prowess, and his players own six career batting statistics and litter the top-five charts. Kellye Kincannon captured three career hitting marks and shares another with Cassandra Barefield. Brittney Jones and Brittany Virgoe each own a category. Eight of Pickett’s last 10 teams have had winning or even records after starting 5-45 in his first season, inheriting a program that had 10 wins in the previous campaign. Pickett rebuilt NSU softball into a perennial Southland Conference championship contender by winning three league titles between 2013-15. The Lady Demons won an SLC regular season title in 2015 and conference tournament championships with corresponding NCAA Tournament appearances in 2013 and 2014. The regular season conference title is NSU’s first since 2000. From 2013-15, NSU posted a 106-55 record (.658), the second-best winning percentage in any three-year window in program history. The 2015 team had the best conference season of any NSU softball squad, posting a 22-3 league record to finish 36-18. The top-seeded Lady Demons fell in the championship game of the conference tournament, preventing three straight NCAA appearances. Freshman pitcher Mikayla Brown was named SLC Pitcher of the Year to headline six all-conference selections, including Kincannon (SLC Softball Student-Athlete of the Year). For his efforts, Pickett was named SLC Coach of the Year for the second time (also winning in 2013).
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A total of 34 players have been selected to the All-Southland Conference teams with 18 All-Louisiana selections. In 2013 and 2014, NSU stormed to SLC Conference tournament titles with records of 40-15 and 30-22, respectively. In 2014, the Lady Demons appeared in a regional with No. 13 Baylor, Houston and Tulsa. NSU nearly knocked off Houston in a 7-6 loss. Nine Lady Demons were named to the All-Southland squads with six being selected for the All-Louisiana team. Tara McKenney and Kincannon became the first NSU players in more than 10 years to earn All-South Region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Head coach Donald Pickett has led NSU to three Southland Conference titles since 2013 -- two tournmaent titles (2013-14) and one regular season (2015).
CHAMPIONS ‘91 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘15
