Northwestern State Softball
A LOOK B ACK AT 2019
NSU qualifi ed for its second straight Southland Conference Tournament in 2018. The Lady Demons host in 2019 and are aiming for a high seed at Lady Demon Diamond.
The Northwestern State softball team was exactly where it wanted to be. The No. 6 seed Lady Demons won their first two Southland Conference Tournament games as the tournament host, including knocking off rival McNeese in the night cap of the first day. But once in the winner’s bracket portion of the tournament, the Lady Demons fell to Nicholls and Stephen F. Austin, the latter after a weather delay pushed that contest to the following day with NSU in the lead, only to have the Ladyjacks own that second day in an SFA win. The two SLC Tournament wins were a step in the right direction, marking the first season with multiple tournament wins since the Lady Demons advanced to the tournament championship game for the third straight season in 2015. The hope is the taste of that postseason success will set the stage for a memorable 2020 with all but one full-time position starter and one starting pitcher returning. NSU finished 30-27 and 15-12 in the league, the first 30-win season since 2015. The 15 league wins is the most since 2015 as well when the Lady Demons posted a 22-3 mark with 36 overall wins. Three Lady Demons made All-Southland Conference teams led by first-teamer E.C. Delafield at utility. Second baseman Cayla Jones was a cornerstone of the lineup and made the second team, and outfielder Elise Vincent had arguably the most consistent SLC season en route to a third-team honor.
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Delafield morphed into the pitching staff ’s ace, posting a 10-4 record with a 2.49 ERA. The sophomore also turned in a solid offensive performance with a .272 average and four home runs and 17 RBIs. Opponents tried to pitch around Jones as much as possible, but the sophomore still hit .335 with nine home runs, 35 RBIs, 41 runs scored and 36 walks. Vincent assumed leadoff spot duties midseason and hit .304 with 18 stolen bases. Kaitlyn St. Clair provided a huge nonconference moment when she walked off a Boise State team receiving Top 25 votes in the season opener. NSU scored a win against ACC-member Boston College, but the Lady Demons also lost every contest in two different tournaments. NSU had a great start to league play by winning the final two games at Sam Houston State against the eventual champion Bearkats, which included a 10-inning win in which freshman Maggie Black delivered a two-run double and Mikayla Brown picked up the relief win. The Lady Demons improved to 5-1 with a sweep of Abilene Christian, but McNeese took two of three to drop NSU to 6-3. But the Lady Demons were riding high after a home sweep of Southeastern only to get swept at Nicholls. The boom or bust continued with a sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before dropping a series 2-1 at Lamar and being swept at Stephen F. Austin. NSU closed the league season with a 2-1 win vs. Central Arkansas to lock up the No. 6 seed.
CHAMPIONS ‘91 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘15
