CLEVELAND, Miss. --- On a frigid night in the delta, the Mississippi College softball team opened Gulf South Conference with a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Delta State University at University Field.

The Lady Choctaws (4-4, 0-2 GSC) jumped out to an early lead in the opener as junior Tylan Buckley and freshman Kristen Qualls had RBI in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

After the Lady Statesmen (9-3, 2-0 GSC) tied the game with a two-run home run in the second inning, Qualls gave MC the lead back in the fourth with her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot to go ahead, 4-2.

MC kept the lead until the sixth inning when Kara Lane Nowell hit a two-out grand slam that proved to be the difference in the game.

Freshman Penny Nichols (2-2) took the tough-luck loss for MC, strirking out five over 6.0 innings.

In the second game, DSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead after two innings, but MC struck back with four in the third thanks to and RBI single from freshman Alexia Harmon and a two-run single from freshman Cheyenne Mathews. Harmon went 5-for-8 in the doubleheader.

The Lady Statesmen pushed the lead back out to 11-4 before Mathews and senior Kimmie Conley had RBI in the fifth to cut the score to 11-6.

Junior Megan Everett went 3-for-4 in the game and collected her 100th career hit with a single in the fifth inning.

The Lady Choctaws and Lady Statesmen will be back in action on Sunday for the series finale at 1:00 p.m.