No. 2 Mustangs start strong in key conference series

The Northeast Alabama Community College softball team won the first two rounds of a nationally-ranked heavyweight bout.

The Mustangs went on the road and swept an Alabama Community College Conference series-opening doubleheader with traditional Alabama Community College Conference power Wallace State-Hanceville Thursday afternoon with 13-2 and 5-2 victories.

The series features the No. 2-ranked (NACC) and No. 10-ranked (Wallace State) teams in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Softball Rankings.

The Mustangs, winners of 10 consecutive games, improved to 29-1 and 10-0 in ACCC play ahead of the series conclusion with the Lions, a doubleheader Saturday starting at 2 p.m. at NACC's Nathaniel Ledbetter Stadium (Tickets are available at gofan.co/app/school/AL100680 for Saturday's home doubleheader. Students receive free admission by showing a current NACC ID).

"I thought we did a good job of responding to adversity in (Thursday's) games," said NACC head coach Joe Guthrie. "More adverse moments will come on Saturday. We need to continue to mentally and physically beat the game when the adversity strikes."

NACC ace Addie Edwards got the win in the pitching circle in Game 1 before returning to the circle in Game 2 to record her third save. The freshman right-hander, who is a conference-best 15-0 this season, allowed five hits and one walk while totaling nine strikeouts in a Game 1 complete-game effort — both of Wallace State's runs were unearned — before allowing one hit and one walk with one strikeout while pitching the final 1 1/3 innings of Game 2 in relief.

Meanwhile, NACC batters got their swings in, combining for 26 hits and 18 runs during Thursday's two-game set.

The Mustangs scored a single run in each of the first two innings of Game 1 before taking a 7-0 lead thanks to a five-run fourth inning highlighted by sophomore Chloe Hatch's grand slam. After Wallace State scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Emma Hindmon's RBI double gave the Mustangs an 8-2 advantage in the fifth. NACC put the game out of reach during a five-run top of the seventh that featured a three-run double by freshman Lorelai Sullivan and a two-run double from freshman Marti McCluskey.

Seven Mustangs enjoyed a multi-hit outing, led by Sullivan's 3-for-4, four-RBI performance. Hatch finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored — the grand slam was her fifth home run of the season — and Hindmon was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Sophomore Kiley Weston and freshman Morgan Perkins both contributed two hits and one walk to the NACC win while sophomore Francesca Lumpp and freshman Olivia Acuff added two hits apiece and McCluskey and sophomore Emmorie Burke (RBI) had one hit each.

NACC picked up Game 2 where it left off at the plate in Game 1, striking for three runs in the top of the first on Burke's three-run homer. Wallace State pulled within 3-2 in the third inning, but Sullivan's RBI triple extended NACC's lead to 4-2 after four innings. Wallace State threatened again in the sixth inning, but Edwards got a strikeout to escape a bases-loaded jam, and Sullivan tripled to start the seventh before scoring an insurance run on Weston's RBI groundout that gave the Mustangs a 5-2 advantage. Wallace State (25-6, 8-2) brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Edwards coaxed a game-ending pop-up to secure the sweep for NACC.

Lumpp finished 3-for-3 and Sullivan was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Mustangs while Burke hit her second home run of the season and McCluskey used a first-inning single to extend her hitting streak to 30 games. NACC also got one hit each from Acuff and Hindmon and an RBI from Weston.

Freshman right-hander Erin Harrelson got the win in the circle, improving to 7-1 after allowing just two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out two over four innings pitched. Sophomore left-hander Kayleigh Warnock recorded one strikeout while pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief.

Guthrie was pleased with Thursday's wins but said the job is not finished.

"We need to learn from our shortcomings and finish on Saturday," he said. "We are playing a very good team that knows how to win. We need to minimize freebies to avoid reversals of fortune."