The Temple College Leopards' 2026 season has been one for the ages. Celebrating the college's centennial year has been a look back at great years in Central Texas and the athletic landscape.

In 2026, the Temple College softball team is writing their own chapter. And that will conclude on Sunday with battle against the Northeast Alabama Community College Mustangs for the national championship in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Softball JUCO World Series in Oxford, Ala.

First pitch for game one will be at 2 pm CT on ESPN+. Game two will be 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one.

With NACC undefeated in tournament play, Temple has to win twice to secure a national championship.

The fourth-seeded team in the CWS field, Temple's 5-1 tournament mark has wins against College of Southern Idaho (4-3) and Seminole State College (9-3) in the early portion, a 12-2 loss to top-ranked Florida SouthWestern State College that dropped them into the loser's bracket, and convincing wins over Santa Fe College (7-1), Paris Junior College (15-4), and a rematch win over FSW (4-1) to earn their spot in the championship pairing.

NACC, the eighth-seeded team in the 20-team field, sports a 4-0 tournament record, with wins over Gaston (8-0), Odessa College (4-3), Paris (9-4), and FSW (6-4).

Through 65 games, Temple (58-7) has a .381 batting average, .450 on-base percentage, and .605 slugging percentage. The Leopards have scored 526 runs on 663 hits, 137 doubles, 35 triples, 61 homers, 471 runs batted in, 1,053 total bases, walked 204 times, been hit by 43 pitches, stolen 218 bases on 230 tries, and have committed just 33 errors in 1,507 total chances (.978 fielding percentage).

Reese Cottrell (.438 BA, .521 OBP, 27 doubles, 13 HR, 77 RBI, 38 walks), Lexi Dudeczka (.435 BA, .496 OBP, HR, 42 RBI, 27 walks, 33 stolen bases), Brooklynn Walton (.434 BA, .467 OBP, HR, 26 RBI), Jasmine Benavidez (.424 BA, .496 OBP, 18 doubles, 7 HR, 68 RBI, 26 walks, 26 stolen bases), Izzy Garcia (.406 BA, .461 OBP, 5 HR, 35 RBI), Kaiyah Ratu (.385 BA, .458 OBP, 18 HR, 58 RBI), Marli Kennedy (.343 BA, .426 OBP, 15 doubles, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 39 stolen bases), and Ryley Litchfield (.331 BA, .350 OBP, 2 HR, 35 RBI 24 stolen bases) have been amongst the chief contributors in the Temple batting order.

Temple's pitching staff earned run average is 2.23 in 407 2/3 innings pitched. The Leopards have allowed 153 total runs (130 earned), have struck out 387 batters and walked 138 hitters, with opponents hitting .193 against them.

Garcia (29-1, ten complete games, four shutouts, 2.00 ERA, 168 1/3 IP, 175 strikeouts, 48 walks) and Kat Kram (18-4, 13 complete games, six shutouts, 2.42 ERA, 130 IP, 152 strikeouts, 53 walks) are the starters, while Cottrell (9-2, 26 appearances, 2.12 ERA, 72 2/3 IP, 48 strikeouts, 25 walks) and Dalanee Ekster (2-0, 23 appearances, 2.86 ERA, 14 walks, 12 strikeouts) have been the fully-capable relievers out of the Temple pen.

Through 59 games, NACC (55-4) is hitting .400 with an on-base percentage of .466 and slugging percentage of .631. The Mustangs have scored 486 runs on 641 hits, 141 doubles, 25 triples, 60 home runs, 459 RBI, walked 184 times, have stolen 75 bases on 82 tries, and have committed 42 errors on 1,501 total chances (.972 fielding percentage).

Lorelai Sullivan (.507 BA, .538 OBP, 3 HR, 51 RBI), Francesca Lumpp (.449 BA, .466 OBP, 8 HR, 52 RBI), Kiley Weston (.438 BA, .498 OBP, 25 doubles, 2 HR, 62 RBI, 21 stolen bases), Marti McCluskey (.431 BA, .505 OBP, 22 doubles, 15 HR, 76 RBI, 29 walks), and Chloe Hatch (.401 BA, .477 OBP, 12 HR, 54 RBI, 14 stolen bases) are amongst the key offensive contributors.

NACC's staff ERA is 1.91 through 366 innings pitched, with 38 complete games and 20 shutouts.

Addison Edwards (33-0, 1.06 ERA, 204 2/3 IP, 31 earned runs allowed, 215 strikeouts, 33 walks) and Erin Harrelson (12-3, 1.78 ERA, 82 2/3 IP, 21 earned runs allowed, 58 strikeouts, 20 walks) are the primary starters. Kayleigh Warnock (7-0, 2.09 ERA, 53 2/3 IP, 38 strikeouts, 20 walks) and Skylar Branch (3-0, 6.88 ERA, 19 1/3 IP, 14 strikeouts, seven walks) are the keys in the pen for the Mustangs.