VALDOSTA, Ga. --- The Mississippi College softball team will wrap up Gulf South Conference play this weekend when they travel for a three-game series with #1 Valdosta State University, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 3:00 p.m. (Central), followed by a single game at noon (Central) on Saturday.

SERIES RECORD    
The Lady Choctaws (24-18, 13-13 GSC) and the Blazers (44-4, 25-3) have met 12 previous times with VSU holding a 7-5 edge in the series. The schools have not played since 1995 when MC picked up a 2-1 win at the GSC Tournament.

NOTES ON THE LADY CHOCTAWS    
Brooke O'Hair is in her 9th season as the head coach at Misisissippi College, earning her 200th career win last season. O'Hair opened her successful stint with 38-10 record and an American Southwest Conference East Division championship. The Lady Choctaws advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament that season and also qualified for the postseason tournament in 2010 and 2011.

The Lady Choctaws are coming off a doubleheader split on the road on Wednesday night at William Carey. MC used a 6-run sixth inning in the opener to pick up a 6-2 win, while the Lady Crusaders bounced back for a 2-0 win in the second game.

Senior Shay Mickens (.380) is the team's leading hitter and has a team-high 57 hits, 35 runs scored and 29 stolen bases. Her 73 career stolen bases in two seasons is second in school history behind senior Macey Lee (73) and Jennifer Jones (2008-11, 84).

Senior Karla Beth Hux (.358) stepped in the starting lineup after the first two weeks of the season and has the second-best batting average on the team. She is tied with senior Tori Bankston (.315) with a team-high three home runs.

Sophomore Megan Everett (.354) is third on the team in batting average and has a team-high 33 RBI on the season. She has 10 games with multiple RBI, including four games with three or more runs batted in.

Senior Brooke Smitherman (.339) has been walked 36 times on the season and is second on the squad with 24 RBI. She has now drawn 151 career base on balls, which is twice as many as any other player in MC history.

Junior Ashley Subervielle (.298) leads the team with 12 doubles and ranks third on the team with 21 runs scored. Senior Macey Lee (.265) is second on the team with 22 runs scored and 17 stolen bases. The Pearl native has seen her average rise more than 50 points in the last month.

Junior Carlie Sargent (16-9, 2.39 ERA) leads the team in innings pitched (140.1), strikeouts (110) and complete games (11). She tossed a complete game in the 6-2 victory over William Carey on Wednesday.

Senior Lacie Patterson (5-6, 2.93 ERA) has allowed just six earned runs over her last seven appearances, totaling 32.1 innings. She retired 13 straight batters on Wednesday night.

NOTES ON THE BLAZERS
The Blazers are led by 10th-year head coach Thomas Macera, who is coming up on his 500th career victory at the school. Macera led VSU to the national championship game for the third time in five years in 2014. They have advanced to the NCAA South Region nine times, hosting the tournament on five occasions.

VSU has been ranked #1 in all of Division II for the past five weeks and have not dropped below #2 all season. They have a season-high 26-game winning streak that spanned the middle of Ferbruary to the end of March.

Since dropping 2-of-3 at Alabama Huntsville to open April, the Blazers have won seven straight games, outscoring their opponents 66-5 over that span. Their series against Lee last weekend was rained out and will not be made up.

The Blazer offensive attack was led by senior Courtney Albritton, who has hit 75 career home runs, including a Division II best 27 last season. She was hitting .500 with 12 home runs and 34 runs scored before being injured against North Alabama on March 8th.

Valdosta State has hit 77 home runs as a team, led by Jaime Phillips (.386) with 15 long balls. Both Fran Johnson (.351) and Brandy Morgan (.336) have 11 home runs on the season. Morgan has a a team-high 48 RBI, while Phillips and Kiley Rusen (.392) have 43 apiece.

In the circle, the Blazers have posted a 1.36 team-ERA, led by junior Caitlyn Calhoun (25-3, 1.07 ERA). She has tossed 16 shutouts with 223 strikeouts in 176 innings. Huntyre Elling (14-0, 1.51 ERA) is undefeated in 20 appearances.