FLORENCE, Ala. --- The Mississippi College softball team opened defense of their Gulf South Conference championship with a 9-1 win over Montevallo on Thursday afternoon at the UNA Softball Complex.

The Lady Choctaws (29-15) will now move on to play at 3:00 p.m. on Friday (May 4) and will face the winner of #1 North Alabama and #8 Lee, who are scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Falcons (32-15) will face the loser of the same game at 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Lady Choctaws got the scoring going early as sophomore Carly Crawford hit her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center field, giving MC a 2-0 lead.
- Junior Brianna Caldwell made it back-to-back home runs with her 13th long ball of the season, giving the Lady Choctaws a 3-0 advantage after an inning.
- In the third inning, Caldwell would set an MC single-season record with her 14th home run of the year, giving the Lady Choctaws a 5-0 lead with the two-run shot.
- The Falcons got their lone run of the contest in the fourth inning as Lady Sarah Federico doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a pair of groundouts, making the score 5-1.
- MC answered right back in their half of the fourth as freshman Jessica Aron stole second base, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 6-1.
- The Lady Choctaws finished off the contest in the sixth inning as senior Katherine Lee drove in a pair of runs with a double to left field and would score on an fielder's choice by Crawford,
 

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KEY STATS
- Junior Cori Cooper (11-3) allowed just four hits with three strikeouts and no walks over the complete game effort.
- Crawford and Caldwell each went 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs scored, combining for three home runs in the contest.
- Junior Makenzie Nieto also had two hits, while Lee drove in a couple of runs with the double in the sixth inning.
- Aron joined Crawford and Caldwell as Lady Choctaws to score twice.
- Federico led the Montevallo offense with a pair of hits.
- Mychael McMillan (8-2) took the loss for the Falcons, allowing two hits and three earned runs over 2.0 innings pitched.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Lady Choctaws will advance to the winner's bracket of the tournament where they will face the winner of North Alabama and Lee at 3:00 p.m. on Friday (May 4).
 

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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 started 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.