SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of Incarnate Word softball team will host conference opponent Northwestern State in a three game series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon followed by the final game of the series on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cardinals Field.  The games were originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday, but changed due to the inclement weather.    
         
The three game series is the start of conference play for both teams. Last season, Northwestern State swept the season series against UIW going 3-0 over the Cardinals on their way to a 22-3 conference record last season.
         
The Cardinals (6-12, 0-0) are hitting .248 as a team with a .321 on-base percentage and they are averaging 2.56 runs per game. Danielle Ramirez (San Antonio/Marshall HS) has been one of the team's best hitters so far with a .357 batting average and seven runs scored.  Darianne Hale (Mesquite/Bishop Lynch HS) leads the team with three home runs and eight runs batted in despite only 26 at bats.  
In the pitching circle for UIW, Bridget Stein (Brenham/Brenham HS) is the ace with a 3-3 record and a 5.01 ERA in 29.1 innings.  Sarah Leal (Kyle/Hays HS) has been pitching well for the Cardinals and she currently has a 2-2 record with a 4.53 ERA in nine appearances. 

Northwestern State (15-5, 0-0) enters this weekend's three game series on a four game winning streak.  The Demons already have several impressive wins over Oklahoma State, Texas State, and DePaul.  The Demons are projected to finish first in the Southland Conference preseason polls and the team placed four players on the 2016 Southland Conference Preseason All-Conference Team.
         
At the plate, the Demons have four players who are batting over .300 and they are led by Kellye Kincannon who is hitting .397 with four home runs and 16 RBI. Micaela Bouvier is leading the team with 19 runs batted in and she also has four home runs on the season with a batting average of .314. As a team, Northwestern State is batting .289 with 18 home runs.
         
In the pitching circle, Bouvier is the team's ace and she has a record of 8-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 65.2 innings of work.  Shelby Sells is also having a good year for the Demons as she is 5-3 with a 2.48 ERA in 53.2 innings.
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