CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team picked up a pair of victories over Missouri Southern State (8-4) and Drury (4-1) on Saturday afternoon at a chilly MC Softball Complex.

The Lady Choctaws improved to 11-3 and won their fifth straight contest.
 

---

GAME ONE: MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 8, MISSOURI SOUTHERN STATE 4

HOW IT HAPPENED

- The Lions struck first in the opening inning as Erika Lutgen hit a solo home run to left field to grab a 1-0 lead.
- The Lady Choctaws quickly responded, however, as senior Alexia Harmon came to the plate with two outs and ripped a bases-loaded double to left-center field that cleared the bases, scoring sophomore Annemarie Peavy, junior Carly Crawford and senior Makenzie Nieto.
- Peavy added MC's fourth run of the game in the second inning with the Lady Choctaws' first home run of the season, a shot to center field that gave MC a 4-1 advantage.
- The Lions got a run back in the third and cut the lead to 5-3 with a leadoff home run in the fifth by Ashley Caldarella.
- MC answered again witha  run in the fourth on a bases loaded walk by senior Brianna Caldwell that scored junior Shayla McKissock to make the score 6-3.
- Senior Kristen Qualls padded the MC lead in the fifth with an RBI single to score junior Morgan Bradford.
- The final run of the game came on an infield single by sophomore Ashley Elsensohn that score Harmon after she tripled with two outs.
- The Lions would score one in the seventh, but MC would hold on for the 8-4 victory.

KEY STATS

- The patient Lady Choctaw offense drew 14 walks from MSSU pitching, led by three apiece from McKissock and Caldwell.
- Harmon led the attack, going 2-for-2 with a double and a triple, two walks, three RBI and a run scored.
- Senior Adrianna Morgan (4-1) collected the victory for MC, pitching around seven hits and three earned runs over 4.0 innings.
- Senior Penny Nichols picked up her first save of the season, tossing the final 3.0 innings and giving up just one run.
- Taurean Guzman (0-2) took the loss for MSSU, giving up two hits, five walks and five earned runs over 2.0 innings.
- Lutgen led the Lion offensive attack with three hits, including the home run.
 

---

GAME TWO: MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 4, DRURY 1

HOW IT HAPPENED

- In the second game, the Lady Choctaws got a big blast off the bat of Crawford in the first inning, hitting her first home run of the season to make the score 1-0.
- The Lady Choctaws would get all the offense they needed in the second inning, scoring three unearned runs while taking advantage of two Drury errors.
- The Panthers scored their first run of the game in the fourth inning on an MC error and put runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs and the score 4-1.
- Freshman Hannah Creel struck out the next two batters and got a groundout to Harmon at short with a nice pick from junior Hayden Claypool at first to end the threat.
- Both teams would put together scoring chances over the final three innings, but neither team could push a run across.
- The Panthers put runners at 1st and 2nd in the seventh inning with one out, but Bradford and Harmon turned a double play up the middle to end the game.

KEY STATS

- Crawford, Harmon and Bradford each had two hits for the Lady Choctaws, while Crawford and Claypool talied RBI in the win.
- Creel (4-0) went the distance for MC, scattering eight hits with six stirkeouts and no earned runs.
- Resch (1-2) took the loss for Drury, giving up three hits and four runs over 1.0 inning.
- Hailly Greenough pitched the final 5.0 scoreless innings, giving up five hits with four strikeouts.
 

---

NEXT UP

The Lady Choctaws, Drury and Missouri Southern State are slated to battle again on Sunday, but weather appears to be moving into the area. Stay tuned to GoChoctaws.com or folllow @GoChoctawsSB on Twitter for any updates.

Drury and MSSU will play at 11:00 am, followed by MC and Drury (1:00 pm) and MC and MSSU (3:00 pm).
 

---

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 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.