CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team opens their home schedule on Thursday afternoon, hosting William Carey at the MC Softball Complex. The non-conference doubleheader is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m.

THE COACHES
The Lady Choctaws are led by 10th-year head coach Brooke O'Hair, who is the winningest skipper in Lady Choctaw history with 241 career victories. She has led MC to four 30-win seasons, three NCAA Regional appearances and two NCCAA World Series.

The Crusaders are led by 2nd-year head coach Craig Fletcher, who led Carey to a 42-19 record in 2015 and trip to the NAIA World Series. WC is ranked #9 in the 2016 NAIA preseason national poll. 

THE SERIES
This will be the 24th and 25th meetings between the two schools with William Carey holding a 13-10 edge in the series. The teams played four times last season with the Crusaders picking up three wins, including a sweep in Clinton. MC and WC are scheduled for another doubleheader on March 22nd when the teams will face off in Hattiesburg at 4:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Lady Choctaws are coming off a 2-2 weekend at the Ronnie Hawkins Invitational, hosted by Ouachita Baptist University. MC opened with a 7-4 win over Arkansas-Monticello and closed things out with a 9-0 run-rule win over OBU. The Lady Choctaws lost two one-run games to OBU (5-4) and Harding (7-6).

The Crusaders will open the season on Thursday afternoon in Clinton. Their next matchup will not be until the AUM/Faulkner Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. on February 19-20. WC played in the 2015 NAIA World Series, being knocked out by Oregon Tech on May 25th, 2015.

THE MATCHUP
The Lady Choctaws got a great pitching effort from senior Carlie Sargent in the finale in Arkadelphia, allowing just three hits in her 4th career shutout. She struck out 16 batters in 15.0 innings pitched and tossed two complete games.

Junior Tylan Buckley (.667) led MC in hitting with a double, triple, home run, three stolen bases and six runs scored. Freshman Kristen Qualls hit .462 with three home runs, including a three-run shot to open the 9-0 win over OBU. The Madison native also had a team-high six RBI in the victory.

Freshman Shelby Miller (.364) led the team with two doubles, while senior Madison Oliver hit a grand slam in the victory over UAM.

The Crusaders return two of their top four pitchers from a season ago, including sophomore Hannah Moak, who went 19-7 with a 1.61 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 178.2 innings pitched. She earned two wins against MC last season, allowing no runs over 13.0 innings pitched.

Senior Cecilia Lawn returns as the team's leading hitter, tallying a .327 batting average with five doubles and 19 RBI. Kimberly Gilbert also returns after hitting .323 with eight doubles, a home run and a team-high 39 RBI.