Mustangs stay perfect in ACCC play

The Northeast Alabama Community College softball team continued its perfect start in conference play with a doubleheader sweep in south Alabama.

The No. 1-nationally ranked Mustangs defeated Coastal Alabama-South 8-0 and 11-3 in the first two games of the teams' Alabama Community College Conference series in Bay Minette on Thursday.

The wins were the 17th and 18th straight victories for NACC, which improved to 37-1 on the season and 18-0 in ACCC play.

Reigning ACCC Player of the Week Marti McCluskey gave the Mustangs an early lead in Game 1, hitting her team-leading 10th home run – a two-run shot — in a top of the first inning that also included Emma Hindmon's RBI walk. Francesca Lumpp's second-inning RBI double upped the NACC lead to 4-0, and it stayed that way until the seventh when the Mustangs plated four runs via McCluskey's two-run single, Lumpp's RBI sacrifice fly and Morgan Perkins' RBI single.

McCluskey finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Hatch was 2-for-4 with three runs scored for the Mustangs, who got one hit, one walk and two RBIs from Lumpp, one hit, one walk and an RBI from Perkins, one hit each from Weston and Emmorie Burke, a walk and an RBI from Hindmon and a walk from Lorelai Sullivan.

Addie Edwards improved to 19-0 in the circle for NACC after pitching her 18th complete game and 12th shutout of the season. The reigning National Junior College Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week recorded 10 strikeouts and issued no walks while scattering six hits.

Game 2 featured more of the same for NACC, which continued to swing the bats and pitch and field well.

Hindmon's RBI single and Sullivan's RBI sacrifice fly gave NACC a 2-0 lead in the second inning, and the Mustangs struck for three more runs in the fourth thanks to RBI singles by Sullivan, Weston and McCluskey. Burke singled and scored on Hindmon's RBI groundout in the fifth and Weston doubled and scored on McCluskey's RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth to give NACC a 7-0 lead, and the Mustangs added four more in the seventh to go in front 11-0 after Sullivan's RBI double and Hatch's three-run home run.

Hindmon finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Weston (RBI), Burke and Sullivan (three RBIs) had two hits each. The Mustangs also got one hit each from McCluskey, Olivia Acuff and Hatch, who hit her sixth home run of the season.

Erin Harrelson improved to 9-1 in the circle, picking up the win after allowing just two runs on six hits and recording five strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

The teams conclude their four-game ACCC series Saturday with another doubleheader starting at noon at NACC's Nathaniel Ledbetter Stadium. Tickets are available at gofan.co/app/school/AL100680 and students receive free admission by showing a current NACC ID.