Mustangs continue to hold top spot in NJCAA national DI softball rankings
NACC ranked No. 1 for third consecutive week
The Northeast Alabama Community College softball team remains atop the national rankings for the third consecutive week.
The Mustangs received all 13 first-place votes in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Softball Rankings.
NACC is 39-1 on the season and leads the Alabama Community College Conference with a 20-0 record.
Unranked in the NJCAA Preseason Division I Softball Poll, the Mustangs debuted at No. 4 in the first in-season rankings after opening the season 14-0. After a week at No. 3 followed by another week at No. 4, NACC spent two weeks ranked second before moving to the No. 1 spot.
Rounding out the Top-5 are No. 2-ranked Florida Southwestern State College, No. 3 Northwest Florida State College, No. 4 Temple (Texas) College and No. 5 Santa Fe (Florida) College.
NACC is currently on a 20-game winning streak and has outscored opponents 334-77 this season.
The Mustangs are second nationally in team batting average (.410) and seventh in on-base percentage (.473) while leading the ACCC in both of those categories. NACC sophomore outfielder Kiley Weston leads the conference in hits (60) and doubles (17) and freshman outfielder Lorelai Sullivan, who is third in the NJCAA in batting average (.546), leads the ACCC in that category while teammates Marti McCluskey (.463), Francesca Lumpp (.462) and Weston (.458) are fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. McCluskey is also second in the ACCC in doubles (16), third in RBIs (54) and fourth in home runs (11) while Weston, (44) Lumpp (36), Sullivan (35) and Chloe Hatch (32) are fifth, sixth, eighth and 11th in RBIs respectively.
Meanwhile, NACC pitchers are eighth nationally in team ERA (1.91) and 15th nationally in strikeouts (244). Freshman right-hander Addie Edwards leads the NJCAA in wins (20), ERA (0.51) and WHIP (0.65) and is tied for sixth in strikeouts (149). She leads the ACCC in all three of those categories.
The Mustangs start a four-game ACCC series with Northwest Shoals today by hosting a doubleheader at Nathaniel Ledbetter Stadium. First pitch for Game 1 is set for 1 p.m. Tickets for today's doubleheader are available at gofan.co/app/school/AL100680 and students receive free admission by showing a current NACC ID.