Top-ranked NACC softball collects 50th win in program history

The Northeast Alabama Community College softball program has reached another milestone during its second season of existence.

Along with posting the program's first 30-win season and earning its first No. 1 national ranking, NACC recorded the program's 50th all-time victory during its doubleheader sweep of visiting Snead State Thursday at Nathaniel Ledbetter Stadium.

NACC, coached by head coach Joe Guthrie and assistants Courtnay Foster and Jimmy Kolaitis, needed just 78 games to reach the 50-win mark after starting the program in 2025.

The Mustangs posted a pair of five-inning run-rule shortened wins against Snead State, prevailing 8-0 in Game 1 and 10-2 in Game 2. NACC, ranked No. 1 in the National Junior College Athletic Association's Division I Softball rankings, improved to 33-1 on the season and hold a league-leading 14-0 record in Alabama Community College Conference play.

NACC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning in Thursday's opener thanks to RBI doubles from freshman Marti McCluskey and sophomore Francesca Lumpp and an RBI sacrifice fly by freshman Olivia Acuff. McCluskey singled, went to second base on a wild pitch and scored on Lumpp's RBI double in the third inning to give the Mustangs a 4-0 lead, and NACC added four more runs in the fourth thanks to RBI singles by sophomore Kiley Weston and McCluskey, Lumpp's' third RBI double of the game and Acuff's single.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Erin Harrelson closed out the win in the top of the fifth for the Mustangs, finishing off a three-hit shutout with four strikeouts to improve to 8-1 in the circle.

Lumpp went 3-for-3 at the plate with three doubles — a new NACC single-game record — three RBIs and two runs scored while McCluskey finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs. Sophomore Chloe Hatch singled, walked and scored two runs and freshman Lorelai Sullivan doubled for NACC while Acuff singled, walked and drove in two runs. Weston contributed one hit, one walk, a stolen base and a run scored while sophomore Sophia Murphey reached base after being hit by a pitch.

The Mustangs used an eight-run third inning to take control of Game 2 en route to completing the doubleheader sweep.

After Snead State scored two runs in the top of the third inning to tie game 2-all, NACC broke the game open in its half of the inning thanks to freshman Morgan Perkins' two-run single, Sullivan's RBI single, Weston's two-run double, bases-loaded RBI walks by Lumpp and Acuff and McCluskey's run on a wild pitch.

Sullivan, who leads both the ACCC and the NJCAA in batting average (.588), extended her hitting streak to 16 games for the Mustangs while going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Lumpp extended her hitting streak to 18 games as well thanks to her first-inning RBI single — Lumpp also drew two walks — while Perkins finished 2-for-3 and Weston singled, walked and drove in two runs. NACC also got a single from Hatch and two walks and an RBI from Acuff.

Kayleigh Warnock pitched a complete game for the Mustangs. The sophomore left-hander improved to 6-0 in the circle after allowing two runs on eight hits and one walk and recording five strikeouts.

NACC and Snead State conclude their four-game ACCC series with a doubleheader Saturday in Boaz. The new start time for Saturday's opening game is 1 p.m.