Mustangs take two from Southern Union

The Northeast Alabama Community College softball team is now an impressive 40 games above .500 on the season.

The No. 3-nationally ranked Mustangs posted a pair of run-rule shortened wins against visiting Alabama Community College Conference opponent Southern Union at Nathaniel Ledbetter Stadium on Thursday.

NACC improved to 43-3 on the season after the doubleheader sweep. The Mustangs, who are 24-2 in conference play, have a four-game lead in the ACCC Division I Softball Standings with six conference games remaining.

NACC took the opening game against Southern Union 9-1 in six innings. Trailing 1-0 after one inning, Northeast used freshman Morgan Perkins' RBI sacrifice fly, freshman Lorelai Sullivan's RBI single, sophomore Chloe Hatch's three-run home run and freshman Marti McCluskey's RBI double to take a 5-1 lead. NACC then used a three-run sixth inning to end the game via the run-rule thanks to McCluskey's RBI sacrifice fly — her 60th RBI of the season — and RBI singles from Perkins and fellow freshmen Breanna Wilson and Austin McNeece.

Sophomore Emmorie Burke, Perkins and Sullivan, who leads the ACCC in batting average (.509), all finished 2-for-3 for the Mustangs while Hatch, McCluskey, McNeece and Wilson had one hit each.

Addie Edwards pitched a complete game for NACC to improve to 23-0 in the circle — the freshman right-hander leads National Junior College Athletic Association Division I softball in wins and ERA (0.65) — after allowing one run on five hits and no walks. Edwards also had eight strikeouts, increasing her ACCC-leading total to 165.

NACC got another strong pitching performance during a six-inning 8-0 Game 2 victory. Freshman right-hander Erin Harrelson pitched a four-hit complete game with five strikeouts for the Mustangs to improve to 11-3 in the circle.

Like Game 1, Northeast took command with a five-run second inning highlighted by freshman Olivia Acuff's RBI single and Hatch's 3-run home run, her second of the doubleheader and the 11th of the season. NACC added a run in the fourth on Wilson's RBI single before ending the game in the sixth on Hatch's RBI double and sophomore Kiley Weston's RBI triple.

Hatch finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs, Wilson was 2-for-2 with an RBI and Weston was 2-for-4 with an RBI for NACC, which also got one hit and one RBI from Acuff and one hit each from McNeece and Perkins.

NACC concludes its four-game ACCC series with Southern Union with a doubleheader Monday in Wadley starting at 2 p.m.