Booneville, MS – Northeast softball remains in the national rankings following the first week of March with the Tigers hanging around in the top twenty at #19 in the latest polls with a 23-3 overall record.
Northeast split on the week with a series sweep over ASU Mid-South in a pair of run rule wins in five innings each before opening MACCC action with a pair of losses at home against Meridian. Game one in Arkansas saw the Tigers dominate at the plate with Jeoreia Henry and Chloe Skelton each recording a two-run homer to propel Northeast for a 10-1 win that was followed by a grand slam in game two from Sophie Gant to light up the scoreboard for another dominant win at 15-2 for the series sweep. Following their series sweep on the road, Northeast experienced a sweep at home for the first time this year with the Tigers falling to Meridan 8-4 in game one and 11-5 in game two to open conference play 0-2.
Eight teams in Region 23 earned a spot in the latest rankings with Pearl River claiming the top spot at #1 followed by #3 Copiah-Lincoln, #6 Jones, #7 Louisiana State Eunice, and #10 Itawamba to round out the top ten. Hinds placed directly ahead of Northeast at #18 with the Tigers following at #19 and Mississippi Gulf Coast finalizing the region's representatives at #22.
The Tigers currently sit atop of the MACCC in multiple categories including homer runs with 36 as a team on the season while also ranking first in doubles (80), triples (13), and RBI (215). Individually, Adin Shelton ranks in the top five in the conference in home runs with 9 on the season and is currently first in RBI at 39 while Ab McKay ranks third with 34. Leah Walker as proven to be efficient at the plate with a .506 batting average to place her fourth in the conference and has used her speed towards 18 stolen bases to rank third.
Northeast will look to bounce back to even their conference record with the Tigers on the road tomorrow at Coahoma before taking on #1 Pearl River at the Plex on Saturday with first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for 2:00 PM.