TROUTVILLE, Va. --- For the third consecutive year, the Mississippi College softball team will head to the Botetourt Sports Complex for the NCCAA World Series (May 18-20).

This season, the Lady Choctaws (34-19) head into the national tournament as the #1 overall seed after winning the MidEast Region championship at the MC Softball Complex last week.

MC opened the season at just 6-8 and 0-6 in Gulf South Conference play, but a 13-game winning streak and a run of 18 victories in 19 games propelled them to the top of the NCCAA power rankings.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The 2016 tournament consists of eight schools broken up into two four-team pools. MC will be in "Pool A", joined by Emmanuel College (#4), Southern Wesleyan University (#5) and Oakland City University (#8).

"Pool B" is comprised of Belhaven University (#2), Judson University (#3), Central Baptist College (#6) and Mid-America Christian University (#7).

The Lady Choctaws open play on Wednesday when they face Oakland City at 11:00 am (CT). They will follow that up with a 3:30 pm (CT) game against Southern Wesleyan. Pool play closes out on Thursday as MC faces Emmanuel at 9:00 am (CT).

The top two teams advance to the semi-finals which begin on Thursday at 3:00 pm (CT). The national championship game is scheduled for Friday at 11:00 am (CT).

THE SKIPPER
Head coach Brooke O'Hair is in her 10th season with the Lady Choctaws, winning her 250th game on February 28th against West Alabama. She has led MC to five 30-win seasons, three NCAA regional apperances and three trips to the NCCAA World Series. The former Mississippi State second baseman is the winningest coach in school history with 273 victories.

RECORD-BREAKING SEASON
The Lady Choctaws have seen team and individual records fall in 2016. The 2015 squad played a school record 54 games, while this year's team has already played 53 with three guaranteed contests remaining. MC has also won 34 games this season with a possible five games to go. The 2007 team set a school record with 38 wins.

MC also set a school record for stolen bases in a season, swiping 121 bags in 2016. The previous record was set by the 2014 team with 109.

Senior Carlie Sargent (Oxford, Ala.) is at the top of the record books, as well, striking out 180 batters in 2006. The previous record was 177 by Katie Waterbury in 2002.

The tandem of junior Tylan Buckley and freshman Kristen Qualls have shattered the school's home run record. Susan Musselwhite (1994) and Brooke Smitherman (2011) held the previous record with 10 long balls, but Buckley (12) and Qualls (11) have each eclipsed the mark.

THE PITCHERS
Sargent (18-11, 1.85 ERA) has been MC's #1 pitcher the last two seasons after transferring from Southern Union State CC prior to her junior season. She has won 36 career games with 326 strikeouts and a 2.00 ERA.

This season, Sargent tossed the school's first-ever perfect game in a 6-0 win over #25 Alabama Huntsville on April 16th. The lefty has tallied four double-digit strikeout games, including a career-high 12 against Christian Brothers on March 19th.

Freshman Penny Nichols (14-7, 2.51 ERA) has been an outstanding #2 for the Lady Choctaws, tossing 19 complete games and three shutouts in her rookie season. Needing two victories against Belhaven for the MidEast Region title, MC turned to Nichols, who gave up just six hits and one unearned run in MC's 4-1 win over the Blazers.

Sophomore Katherine Lee (2-1, 6.26 ERA) pitched four shutout innings in the 22-0 win over Alice Lloyd in the regional, while junior Megan Everett (0-0, 0.00 ERA) got the final three outs of the blowout win on Tuesday night. Freshman Alexia Harmon (0-0, 3.50 ERA) has also seen action in the circle, throwing 4.0 innings against Delta State early in the season.

THE OFFENSE
As a team, the Lady Choctaws are hitting .289 with 32 home runs, 2nd-most in school history, and 302 runs scored, which averages 5.7 per game. The team is also slugging .414 on the year with 69 doubles.

Qualls (.356) is the team's leading hitter, pacing the squad with 43 RBI, an on-base percentage of .456 and 25 base-on-balls. She also ranks second on the team with 11 home runs, 10 doubles and 53 total hits.

Buckley (.350) leads the team in home runs (12), runs scored (43) and slugging percentage (.740) while missing nine games due to injury early in the season. Buckley also ranks third on the team with 15 stolen bases.

Everett (.320) is creeping up MC's all-time record book, ranking 6th in at-bats (467) and hits (147) for a career. She leads the team in 2016 with 55 hits and 172 at-bats while ranking third on the team with 26 RBI.

Harmon (.319), like Qualls, her former Madison Central teammate in high school, has started every game of her freshman season. She leads the team with 11 doubles, while making 53 starts at shortstop.

Lee (.281) leads the team with 34 stolen bases in 37 attempts this season, the 2nd-best mark in school history behind Shay Mickens, who stole 44 bases in 2014 and 40 bases in 2015. Haley Thompson (.277) ranks second on the team with 24 stolen bases this season.

Senior Kimmie Conley (.248) has played in 178 games over her four seasons and with three games guaranteed this week, she is poised to tie Macey Lee's all-time record of 181 contests. If MC were to advance to the semi-finals, she would be the all-time leader.

Senior Madison Oliver (.235) is third on the team in home runs with four this season, Her biggest of the year came on Tuesday against Belhaven when she hit a two-out, three-run shot over left-center field to give MC the 4-1 victory.

THE FIELDERS
The Lady Choctaws have the third-best fielding percentage in school history this season, tallying a .962 clip over 53 games. The team has made just 58 errors and turned 57 double plays on the year. Buckley has posted a perfect fielding percentage on the season, while Oliver has made just just two errors on the year.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Since joining the NCCAA prior to the 2013-14 academic year, the Lady Choctaws have qualified for all three World Series.

In 2014, MC went to the tournament as the #10 seed, picking up wins over Trinity Christian and Cedarville before being eliminated by Union, a member of the Gulf South Conference.

Last season, MC went into the tournament as the #8 seed, grabbing wins over Oklahoma Wesleyan and the #1 seed, Judson. Following a loss to Oklahoma Christian, MC defeated Cedarville, setting up a matchup with Lee from the GSC. The Flames eliminated MC with a 3-2 victory.

MC and Central Baptist are the only two schools to make each of the last three NCCAA World Series. Lacie Patterson was named to the All-Tournament Team in both 2014 and 2015.

The NCCAA All-American Teams will be announced following the World Series. Buckley, Qualls and Sargent are all eligible after being named to the All-MidEast Region Team. Brooke Smitherman and Shay Mickens have each been named NCCAA All-Americans.