CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team could not dig all the way out of an early hole in a 5-3 loss to Shorter University on Sunday afternoon at the MC Softball Complex.

With the win, the Hawks (14-7, 6-3 GSC) claimed the series victory after a doubleheader split with the Lady Choctaws (10-10, 4-5 GSC) on Saturday.

TURNING POINT
- Already with a three-run advantage, the Hawks pushed their lead out to 5-0 when Ericka Bynum found a hole in the middle of the field to drive in Carson Carriker and Tiffany Holland. Both runs were unearned after MC's third error of the game occurred earlier in the inning.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Shorter got off to a fast start with two runs in the first, aided by two MC errors on the same play. After Holland singled to lead of the game, she moved up to third as a sacrifice bunt was misplayed twice and put Maddie Hunt and Holland in scoring position with no outs.
- The Hawks scored on a fielder's choice groundout and sacrifice fly, taking the 2-0 lead after the top of the first.
- Shorter put three runs across in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Carriker and the two-run single by Bynum.
- The Lady Choctaws got their first hit of the game in their half of the fourth as sophomore Kristen Qualls hit her 14th career home run, a two-run shot to left field that scored junior Katherine Lee who reached on an error and stole second base.
- The score remained 5-2 until the start of the sixth inning when senior Tylan Buckley hit her 16th career long ball to lead off the frame.
- In the seventh, freshman Brister Curry shot a pinch-hit single through the left side of the infield and stole second base, brining the tying run to the plate.
- MC was unable to push a run across and the Hawks clinched the road series win.

KEY STATS
- The Lady Choctaws outhit the Hawks 5-4, but the defense made three errors allowing three unearned runs to score.
- Five different player for MC recorded a hit, while Qualls led the team with the two RBI.
- Sunday's game marked the first this season where MC had two home runs in the same contest (Buckley, Qualls).
- Sophomore Adrianna Morgan (2-3) took the loss for MC, giving up four hits and two earned runs over 3.2 innings.
- Sophomore Penny Nichols pitched 3.1 innings out of the bullpen, walking just one and giving up no hits.
- Holland led the Hawks with two runs scored, while Bynum had a team-high three RBI.
- Kalei Clark (5-1) got the win for Shorter, giving up four hits and two earned runs over 5.0 innings.
- Payton Lippert earned the save by tossing the final 2.0 innings for the Hawks, giving up just one hit with two strikeouts.

NEXT UP
- The Lady Choctaws will be back on the road next weekend when they travel to Jackson, Tenn. to face Union University in a three-game series, beginning Saturday with a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m.
 

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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.