CLINTON, Miss. --- The No. 18 Mississippi College baseball team opens Gulf South Conference on Sunday, Feb. 24 as it faces the University of West Georgia. The two squads will meet at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Miss. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.
 
The series finale is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 25 with a 12 p.m. start.

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THE SERIES
• Mississippi College and West Georgia meet for the 19th time in the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 24. The Choctaws lead the series 10-8 after taking two of three in Carrollton, Ga., last season.
• The series began in 1992 in Clinton with a 2-1 Mississippi College series win. The two teams faced off in 1993 with MC earning a second 2-1 series victory. The six games were the only two meetings between the two squads prior to the series reuniting in 2015 in Clinton.
• This weekend marks the first time the two schools have met at a neutral site. Mississippi College holds a 5-4 advantage over the Wolves both at Frierson Field and at Cole Field in Carrollton in the series.
• The longest win streak in the series in five straight. Both Mississippi College has rattled off five straight in the series. West Georgia's win streak ran from the final game in 1993 and reignited with the sweep in 2015 and finished with the game one win in 2016. The Choctaws win streak started with a sweep in 2017 and was snapped after West Georgia claimed the 1-0 win in the final game of the series last season.
• There have been just two sweeps in series history. West Georgia swept the Choctaws in 2015 and MC picked up a sweep in the series in 2017. Both sweeps came in Clinton, Miss.
 
SCOUTING THE WOLVES
• West Georgia enters action this weekend with a 4-7 record and 2-1 in the Gulf South Conference. The Wolves are riding a two-game win streak.
• West Georgia opened GSC action on Feb. 15 and fell 19-7 to Shorter University in Carrollton. The Wolves won the next two contests against Shorter to claim the series. The Red and Blue knotted the series with a 5-3 win and closed it out with an 8-1 victory to claim the series over its in-state and conference foe.
• UWG is hitting .271 as a team and has combined for 95 hits and 62 RBI. The Red and Blue's pitching staff has posted a 6.33 ERA in 91 innings. The staff has combined for 73 strikeouts.
• The Wolves are led at the plate by a trio of players with batting averages of .333-plus. Brady Barnes leads the way with a .379 clip. Cade Marlow and Drew Haywood are each hitting .333. Marlowe leads the team in hits with 14 followed by Haywood with 13. Marlowe also paces the team with 11 RBI.
• Cason Greathouse leads the Wolves in ERA with a 3.94 and is tied for tops on the team with 14 strikeouts along with Ryan Parker. Greathouse has appeared in four games this season with just one start. Parker and Cory Bartholomew have started the most games on the mound for the Wolves with three each.
 
HAWORTH VS. WEST GEORGIA
• Mississippi College head coach Jeremy Haworth is 6-3 against West Georgia. All nine meetings have come during his time in Clinton, Miss.
 
HAWORTH IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
• Mississippi College head coach Jeremy Haworth is 6-1 in conference openers as a head coach. He is 2-1 in GSC lidlifters since arriving in Clinton. Haworth's Choctaws opened 2018 with a 7-3 win at West Georgia and started 2016 GSC play with a 10-4 win over West Florida in Clinton. The lone blemish on the ledger came in 2017 with a loss to nationally ranked West Florida in Pensacola.
• Haworth was an undefeated 4-0 in Great American Conference openers at Ouachita Baptist (2-0 vs. East Central; 2-0 vs. Arkansas Tech).
 
CHOCTAWS RANK 18TH in NATIONAL POLL
• After starting the season 7-3, Mississippi College checks in in 18th in the first edition of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25. MC was ranked 18th in the Preseason Poll by the NCBWA.
• The Choctaws are one of five teams from the NCAA Division II South Region to appear in the poll and only one of two teams from the Gulf South Conference to be selected as it joined in-state foe Delta State, which was ranked seventh. A trio of Sunshine State Conference members appeared in the poll. Tampa held the top spot with Florida Southern in 13th. Rollins College wrapped up the poll in 25th.
 
RECORD CHASING
• Blaine Crim sits second in hits (196), at-bats (572), RBI (153); third in home runs (27) and total bases (320); fifth in doubles (37) and sixth in runs scored (125). The Mobile, Ala., native is seven games away from reaching the top 10 in games played.
• Tommy Taborda is third in saves (8) and seventh in appearances (49).
• Zack Ingram is nine innings away from the career innings pitched list and 15 strikeouts from the top 10 in career strikeouts.

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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 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.