PENSACOLA, Fla. --- The Mississippi College softball team rallied to grab a doubleheader split at West Florida on Satruday afternoon at the UWF Softball Complex. In the Gulf South Conference opener, the Lady Choctaws dropped the first game 13-4 but bounced back for a 4-1 win the nightcap.
 

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GAME ONE: West Florida 13, MC 4

TURNING POINT
- The Argonauts (9-2, 1-1 GSC) used a 7-run third inning in the opener, highlighted by a three-run home run by Callan Taylor.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Senior Haley Thompson led off the game for the Lady Choctaws (7-6, 1-1 GSC) with a single up the middle, but MC was unable to score in the first frame.
- UWF got on the board with two outs in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run home run from Kathleen Smiley.
- The Argos would break the game open in the 3rd inning with a seven-run frame thanks to the three-run shot from Taylor.
- MC would get on the board in the fourth inning as senior Lauren Mulligan drove in a run with a groundout and freshman Carly Crawford singled home sophomore Makenzie Nieto.
- UWF put the game out of reach in the 4th as Tiona Hill cleared the bases with a three-run double, opening a four-run frame that pushed the score to 13-2.
- The Lady Choctaws would score a couple in the fifth with the help of a sacrifice fly by sophomore Kristen Qualls, but the game ended with the score 13-4.

KEY STATS
- Thompson led the Lady Choctaws at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
- Junior Kristen Gardner (1-2) took the loss for MC, allowing seven hits and six earned runs over 2.1 innings pitched.
- Six different Argos finished with two hits on the night, while Smiley, Taylor and Hill all drove in three runs apiece.
- Becca Taylor (5-1) picked up the win for the Argonauts, scattering five hits and two earned runs over 4.0 innings.
 

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GAME TWO: MC 4, West Florida 1

TURNING POINT
- After both teams were scoreless over the first three innings, senior Megan Everett drove in the eventual game-winning run with an RBI single to score junior Katherine Lee.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both pitchers cruised through the first three innings as MC starter Penny Nichols (3-2) did not allow a UWF hit until the fourth inning.
- MC's fourth inning proved to be the most important as sophomore Alexia Harmon, Lee and Thompson knocked back-to-back-to-back singles to take a 1-0 lead as Harmon came home to score.
- Lee would score on Everett's single,while Thompson scored on a wild pitch and senior Tylan Buckley trotted home on a single by Qualls.
- The Argos would have one hit in the fourth and fifth innings, but Nichols kept the top offense in the Gulf South Conference off the board.
- In the sixth, the Argos led off the frame with a triple by Rhiannon Sassman, who came home to score on a sacrifice fly and make the score 4-1.
- Nichols would get out of that inning and pitch around a one-out hit-by-pitch in the seventh to record her third complete game of the season.

KEY STATS
- Thompson again led the Lady Choctaw offense, going 4-for-4 with a run scored in the contest. On the day, Thompson went 6-of-7 with two runs scored.
- Harmon also had two hits and a run scored for MC.
- Nichols gave up just three hits and an earned run with five strikeouts and no walks over 7.0 innings.
- Sarah Maloney (2-1) took the loss for the Argos, giving up six hits and three earned runs over 3.1 innings.
- The Argos came into the game with a team batting average at nearly .400 and went just 3-of-24 (.125) at the plate against Nichols and the Lady Choctaws.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Lady Choctaws and Argonauts will close out the series on Sunday with a single game at 1:00 p.m. at the UWF Softball Complex.
 

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Mississippi College is a private Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. MC is recently finished their transition process back to NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference and will be competing for conference and national championships in the 2016-17 academic year.
 
The athletic department sponsors 17 intercollegiate athletic programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Football, Golf, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball.
 
For more information on Mississippi College athletics, please contact David Nichols at 601-925-3234 or nichols@mc.edu.