CLINTON, Miss. --- Junior Makenzie Nieto came off the bench in the fifth inning and hit a three-run home run to help lift the Mississippi College softball team to an 8-4 win over Lee University on Saturday afternoon at the MC Softball Complex.

The Lady Choctaws (11-9, 6-6 GSC) took 2-of-3 games from the Flames (12-13, 5-7 GSC) for the third straight season after splitting a doubleheader on Friday.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Lady Choctaws got the scoring going in the second inning as they took advantage of two Lee errors to grab a 3-0 lead.
- Juniors Shelby Miller and Alexia Harmon each singled and would come home to score along with freshman Alexis Jones after she reached on a walk.
- The Flames would see their offense come alive in the fourth inning as Taylor Moran led off the frame with a solo home run to make the score 3-1.
- Lee would then take the 4-3 lead after a pair of doubles and a two-run home run from Bailey Church.
- Junior Penny Nichols would relieve junior Cori Cooper in the circle and get the next three batters out to stop the rally.
- MC wasted no time getting the runs right back as freshman Kayla Murphy stepped up with two outs in the fourth and laced a single up the middle that would score Harmon and sophomore Shayla McKissock.
- The fifth inning for MC began with a walk to junior Brianna Caldwell that was erased on a nice defensive play by the Flames to turn a double play and clear the bases.
- Freshman Jessica Aron stepped in and doubled to the right-center gap, and Harmon earned a walk to put runners on first and second with two away.
- Nieto came to the plate as a pinch-hitter and took a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to make the score 8-4 and give MC some breathing room.
- Nichols would retire the side in order in the sixth and after giving up a couple of baserunners in the seventh, would close things out with a fly-out to right field.
 

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KEY STATS
- Harmon and Miller each had a team-high two hits, while Harmon would score a team-high three runs on the day.
- Nieto drove in three runs with the home run, while Murphy had a pair of RBI.
- Nichols (3-4) allowed just two hits and struck out three over 4.0 innings to collect the win out of the bullpen.
- Cooper started for the Lady Choctaws and tossed two perfect innings before the Flames got to her in the fourth.
- Church led the Flames with two hits and two RBI.
- Beatenbough )5-4) took her second loss in as many days, giving up seven hits and three earned runs over 6.0 innings.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Lady Choctaws will return to the MC Softball Complex next weekend to host West Florida for a three-game series, starting on Saturday with a doubleheader at 2:00 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 recently finished their transition process back to NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference and began 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.