COLUMBUS, Ga. --- The Mississippi College softball team opened the 2018 season with a 5-4 loss in extra innings to Palm Beach Atlantic at the Southern Softball Showdown.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Lady Choctaws (0-1) fell behind early as the Sailfish (1-0) scored two unearned runs in the first inning on a two-run double with two outs.
- Senior Katherine Lee drove in MC's first run of the season in the third inning, cutting the score to 2-1 on a fielder's choice that scored junior Shelby Miller.
- PBA responded in their half of the third with a two-out RBI single to push the score out to 3-1.
- MC got the offense going in the sixth inning as junior Kristen Qualls tied the game with a two-run single to score Lee and junior Makenzie Nieto, who doubled in the prior at-bat.
- Sophomore Carly Crawford drove in the go-ahead run as Quals came into score on a double to left-center, making the score 4-3.
- The Sailfish would answer again in the bottom of the sixth, tying the game with an RBI single, but a line drive double play turned by Qualls ended the threat with the score tied 4-4.
- The game went into extra innings, and PBA picked up the walk-off win on a bases loaded walk in the eighth.
 

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KEY STATS
- Crawford led the Lady Choctaws with two hits, while Qualls had a team-best two runs batted in.
- Nieto and Crawford each had doubles in the contest, while freshman Jessica Aron and Miller recorded sacrifice bunts.
- Lee stole her 82nd career stolen base in the first inning, moving her just two behind the all-time total of 84 by Jennifer Jones and Shay Mickens.
- Kristen Gardner went 7.0 innings in the circle, scattering 10 hits and allowing just two earned runs with three strikeouts.
- Junior Penny Nichols (0-1) took the loss for MC, pitching the eighth for MC.
- Four different Sailfish tallied two hits, while Hinds finished with a team-high two RBI.
- Jana Wagner (1-0) got the win in relief for PBA, giving up just one hit over the final two innings in the circle.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Lady Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (CT) as they face Georgia Southwestern in Columbus, GA.
 

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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.