CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team returns to the diamond on Saturday, Feb. 27 as the Choctaws host the No. 22 University of West Alabama in a three-game, conference series. First pitch of the Saturday doubleheader is slated for 2 p.m.
The series finale is set for Sunday, Feb. 28 with a 1 p.m. start.
Saturday's opening contest marks the 75th meeting between Mississippi College and West Alabama with the Tigers holding a 53-21 advantage in the series. The two squads renewed the series last season after being halted in 1996 with UWA claiming a three-game sweep. MC's last win in the series came on Feb. 26, 1995 as the Choctaws topped UWA 7-4 in Livingston, Ala.
This weekend marks the first meeting between MC skipper
Jeremy Haworth and West Alabama while UWA head coach Gary Rundles is 3-0 against the Choctaws in his tenure in Livingston - that coming last season.
MC has four hitters batting .333-plus through 30 at-bats this season led by
Logan Ferrell with a .459 clip. The senior leads the team with 17 hits followed by
Hunter Bolin with 16 knocks and a .421 average at the dish.
Caleb Upton paces the squad with 10 RBI. On the mound,
Tyler Scholl has posted a 1.17 ERA through a team-best six appearances. The hurler is one of four with double-digit strikeouts with 10.
Jake Fraze (2-0) leads the team in Ks with 17 through a team-best 19.1 innings.
Blaine Crim (2-2) has 14 strikeouts followed by
Samuel Harrison (1-0) with 13.
Mississippi College is 6-4 after dropping the series against West Florida last weekend. MC claimed a 10-4 victory over the Argos to open the series. It marked the first in the series for MC and the first time since Feb. 19, 2015 that the squad claimed the first game of a three-game series in GSC action – that coming against Union University in a 3-2, 16-inning marathon. The win is the first in the conference since topping in-state rival Delta State 7-6 in extra innings on April 11, 2015.
UWA has five hitters batting .333 or better this season led by Nick Delgado's .370 clip at the dish. Adam Chamblee paces the squad with 13 RBI. Evan Anderson (2-1) leads the Tiger hurlers with 17.2 innings pitched and is second in strikeouts with 16. Josh Jones (2-0) leads the team with 17 Ks.
West Alabama is 8-4 after a 17-10 at Montevallo on Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers dropped two of three at Delta State this weekend. UWA claimed the first game of the series before falling in the final two contests.
Following the weekend slate, Mississippi College hits the road for the first of four straight away from Frierson Field as MC visits Spring Hill in a non-conference, midweek outing on Tuesday, Mar. 1. First pitch in Mobile, Ala., is set for 4 p.m. The Choctaws then travel to Shorter University for a three-game, GSC series in Rome, Ga., beginning Saturday, Mar. 5.
