HATTIESBURG, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team earned a doubleheader split with NAIA #2 William Carey on Tuesday afternoon at Joseph & Nancy Fail Field.

The Lady Choctaws (21-12), behind a solid pitching performance form freshman Jordan Holifield, took the first game, 2-1. The Crusaders (32-3) grabbed the second game by a score of 2-0.
 

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GAME ONE: Mississippi College 2, William Carey 1
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Freshman Jordan Holifield earned her first start in the circle for MC and allowed just one run over a complete-game effort against #2 William Carey.
• The game was scoreless over the first four innings, but the Lady Choctaws had the first scoring chance, loading the bases with two outs in the 3^rd.
• The Crusaders opened their half of the third with leadoff hitter Macy Monk reaching third on an MC errors, but Holifield stranded her there.
• The Lady Choctaws broke through in the fifth inning when senior Lauren Mulligan walked and stole second base, moving to third on a single by senior Haley Thompson.
• After Thompson stolen second, sophomore Katherine Lee singled up the middle, bringing home both runs to grab a 2-0 lead.
• The Crusaders got their lone run of the game in the fifth as Monk led off with a double and scored on a single by Mary Blair Odom.
• Carey would put runners on second and third with just one out in the inning, but Holifield wriggled of the hook, getting a couple of lineouts to end the inning.
• The Crusaders would put runners on first and third with two outs in the seventh, but MC held on for the victory.

 
KEY STATS

• Lee led MC at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI, while Thompson went 2-for-3 with a run scored and her 35^th stolen base of the season.
• Sophomore Kristen Qualls had MC's other hit in the game, while Mulligan scored MC's other run.
• Holifield (1-0) scattered seven hits and one earned run over 7.0 innings, striking out three with no walks.
• Rachel Hickman (15-1) took her first loss of the season, giving up six hits and one earned run over 7.0 innings.
• Monk led the Crusaders at the plate, going 3-for-3, while Branda Northrop went 2-for-4.

 

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GAME TWO: William Carey 2, MC 0
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Crusaders got an excellent pitching performance from Hannah Moak, who tossed a no-hitter to earn the split with MC
• Carey scored the only runs of the game in the fourth inning as Taylor Brewer drove in a pair of unearned tallies with a single up the middle.

 
KEY STATS

• Freshman Marley Peagler (5-2) was up to the task in the circle for MC, giving up just five hits and two unearned runs over 6.0 innings.
• Senior Tylan Buckley reached base twice (walk, error) and laid down a sacrifice bunt in the close loss.
• Moak (14-2) struck out five and walked two over the complete-game effort.
• Northrop led the Crusader offense with two hits on the day.

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NEXT UP

• The Lady Choctaws will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Georgia to face nationally-ranked Valdosta State in a three-game series, beginning Saturday.

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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.