CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team opens their longest homestand of the season by welcoming the defending NCAA Division II national champions, North Alabama, for a three-game series.

The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., wrapping up the series on Sunday with a single game at 2:00 p.m. at the MC Softball Complex.
 

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MATCHUP INFORMATION
Matchup: Mississippi College (23-13, 14-7 GSC) at North Alabama (23-12, 13-8 GSC)
Location: Clinton, Miss.  |  MC Softball Complex
Time: Saturday - 2:00 p.m.  |  Sunday - 2:00 p.m.
 

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ALL-TIME SERIES
MC and UNA have met 34 previous times with the Lady Choctaws holding a 19-15 edge in the series. This will be the first time the schools have played in Clinton since 1995, and MC is undefeated (8-0) all-time at home against the Lions. The 2015 series scheduled for MC's campus was canceled due to weather. Last season, UNA outscored the Lady Choctaws 24-4 in a three-game sweep on their way to the Division II national championship.
 

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MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE INFORMATION
Head Coach: Brooke O'Hair  |  301-191 (.612), 11th Season at MC

ROSTER  |  SCHEDULE  |  STATISTICS

THE LATEST
- The Lady Choctaws are coming off a 3-2 week against two nationally-ranked teams that saw all five games be decided by two runs or less. MC opened things with a doubleheader split at NAIA #2 William Carey before traveling to #9 Valdosta State and picking up a series win over the Blazers.
- Freshman Jordan Holifield (3-0, 3.59 ERA) had a big week with all three victories for the Lady Choctaws, tossing 24.0 innings in three games after pitching just 3.1 innings all season long prior to last week.
- Freshman Carly Crawford (.373) led the MC offense in Saturday's doubleheader against VSU, going 7-for-9 (.778) with two home runs and nine RBI.
- Junior Katherine Lee (.407) is the team's leading hitter this season, already setting an individual-best with 50 hits in 2017. The Monroe, La. native had a career-high 49 hits in 2016.
- Sophomore Kristen Qualls (.315) leads the team with seven home runs, while Crawford and senior Tylan Buckley each have six long balls on the season. Crawford has a team-high 33 RBI, while Buckley has driven in 30.
 

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NORTH ALABAMA INFORMATION
Head Coach: Ashley Cozart  |  159-51 (.757), 4th Season at UNA

ROSTER  |  SCHEDULE  |  STATISTICS

THE LATEST
- The Lions, who won the 2016 Division II national championship, has already lost five more games in 2017 than they did in 2016 (60-7). However, they have enjoyed three winning streaks of at least five games this season.
- Shelby Woodard (.379) and Hannah Shollenberger (.378) are the team's leading hitters, while Marissa Hancock (.362) has a team-best 23 RBI.
- Hillary Carpenter (12-5, 1.75 ERA) leads the team in wins, innings pitched (116.0) and strikeouts (76), while Raven Cole (7-5, 3.83 ERA) is second in all major pitching categories.
 

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GAME NOTES
- Since opening the season at 10-11 following a series-opening loss at Union, the Lady Choctaws have won 13 of their last 15 games to move into a tie for 3rd in the GSC standings with four series remaining. Over those 15 contests, MC is hitting .343 with 14 home runs, stealing 55-of-60 bases. Carly Crawford is hitting .444 with five home runs and 20 RBI over that stretch, while Tylan Buckley (19) and Kristen Qualls (18) have also been major run-producers.
- The Lady Choctaws have been off and running in the 2017 season, leading the Gulf South Conference and ranking 3rd nationally with 107 stolen bases through 36 games, which already ranks 3rd in school history for most in a single season. Senior Haley Thompson has swiped 35 bases in 37 attempts in 2017, which is the 4th-highest total in school history.
- The Lady Choctaws are scheduled to play just 19 home games out of 50 contests in 2017, but the next eight games are to be played at the MC Softball Complex. MC is 6-2 in Clinton this season, including winning the last five. Since opening the complex in 1998, the Lady Choctaws are 214-109 (.663) in the friendly confines.
- On Monday, March 13th, the Lady Choctaws secured the 700th victory in program history with a 13-8 win over Union. The first win for MC came on March 22, 1986 with a 6-2 win over Tennessee-Martin. On Friday, February 10th, the Lady Choctaws played at Montevallo, which was the 1,200th game in Mississippi College softball history. The first game on record was on March 14, 1986 when MC played Troy State in Columbus, MS (L, 13-14).
- Brooke O'Hair is in her 11th season as MC's head softball coach,  and secured her 300th career victory in a 10-9 victory in 11 innings over #9 Valdosta State last Saturday. She is already MC's all-time winngest softball coach and is heading towards her sixth 30-win season. O'Hair led the Lady Choctaws to an NCCAA national championship and a school-record 39 wins in 2016, being named NCCAA National Coach of the Year.
 

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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.