Booneville, MS – Despite going 1-3 over the past week against two top fifteen opponents in the NJCAA, Northeast softball was able to compete and hang strong to remain at #20 in the latest NJCAA national rankings entering the final week of the regular season of 2026.
#20 Northeast made a road trip over to Fulton, MS on Wednesday for a rivalry doubleheader against #14 Itawamba where the two MACCC foes battled it out for a split on the day. The Indians grabbed game one 2-0 with only one run scoring hit coming in the bottom of the fifth despite Sophie Gant allowing zero runs through the first four innings and zero hits through the first three. In game two Itawamba maintained a 3-0 lead from the second inning all the way to the top of the seventh where the Tigers answered back with Adin Shelton hammering out a solo bomb to lead the way to a 4-2 comeback win.
Back at The Plex Northeast took on #6 Jones for their third top ten opponent of the season in the NJCAA and despite getting double figure hits in both games, the Tigers fell in a sweep against the Bobcats. Both sides competed back and forth through the first few innings of game one with Shelton knocking out a pair of home runs along the way to take a 5-4 lead entering the sixth where Jones recorded six runs of their own to propel ahead and hand the Tigers a 10-6 loss. Gant's bat caught fire in game two with an RBI double to score Northeast's first run before connecting on a three-run dinger to right field for a 4-3 lead in the third inning. Despite hammering out another solo bomb in the bottom of the sixth, the Bobcats scored 11 runs in the final three innings to give the Tigers a 19-9 loss and complete the sweep.
The top ten of the NJCAA rankings remained the same this week with #4 Copiah-Lincoln, #5 Pearl River, #6 Jones, and #8 Louisiana State Eunice representing Region 23 at the top of the polls. #14 Itawamba remained in place while #17 Northwest jumped two spots to place ahead of #18 Hinds while #20 Northeast rounds out the long list of teams from the MACCC.
Northeast falls to 35-13 overall on the 2026 season and now sit even at 12-12 in MACCC action entering the final week of the regular season. The Tigers will remain at home for a doubleheader against East Mississippi on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM before hitting the road for their regular season finale against Southwest on Saturday.