CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team will hit the road for their first Gulf South Conference road series of the year, traveling to Pensacola, Fla. to face #10 West Florida in a three-game series.
The teams will play a single game on Friday night (6:00 pm), followed by a doubleheader on Saturday (2:00 pm).
SERIES INFORMATION
MATCHUP: Mississippi College (15-3, 3-0 GSC) at #10 West Florida (18-1, 6-0 GSC)
TIME: Friday, March 1st - 6:00 p.m. || Saturday, March 2nd - 2:00 p.m. (DH)
LOCATION: Pensacola, Fla. || UWF Softball Complex
THE SERIES
>> The two schools have met 21 previous times with UWF holding a 16-5 edge in the series. Last season, the teams met in Clinton and split two contests with the series finale being canceled due to rain. The Lady Choctaws took 2-of-3 games in the last series in Florida.
>> Last year, the Argos opened the series in Clinton with a 4-2, come-from-behind victory that saw them score three runs in the top of the seventh inning. The Lady Choctaws responded in the second game with a 10-4 victory that saw them erase an early 3-0 deficit.
Makenzie Nieto's grand slam in the fifth put the game out of reach.
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE (15-3, 3-0 GSC)
ROSTER || SCHEDULE || STATS
>> The Lady Choctaws are led by 13th-year head coach
Brooke O'Hair, who won her 350th career game on Wednesday (Feb. 13) with a 5-0 victory over Kentucky State. She is already the winningest coach (357 wins) in school history and has the top winning percentage (.618) among the school's five head coaches.
>> MC has won nine straight games and 13-of-14, including the three-game sweep of West Georgia last weekend. MC was picked to finish 3rd in the Gulf South Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing 4th in the final standings in 2018 with a record of 29-16 and 19-12 in league play.
>> The Lady Choctaws, out of Clinton, Miss., have won nine straight games and 13-of-14 to get off to their best start since going 21-3 to open the 2007 season, Coach O'Hair's first campaign. MC opened the season by going 2-2 at the Gulf Coast Invitational in Gulf Shores, falling to nationally-ranked Saint Leo (#5) and North Georgia (#3). MC then traveled to Huntsville and went 5-1 at the Charger Chillout, including a 9-4 win over the then top-ranked team in the country and defending national champion Southern Indiana.
>> MC then went on to open GSC action last weekend with a three-game sweep of West Georgia, led by the pitching efforts of senior
Cori Cooper and freshman
Hannah Creel, who were named GSC Pitcher and Freshman of the Week. The Lady Choctaws won a pair of one-run games around a 13-0 run-rule victory.
>> Junior
Carly Crawford (.375) has a team-high three home runs to go along with a .675 slugging percentage. Junior
Shayla McKissock (.367) leads the team with 18 hits and 18 runs scored, also stealing 11-of-11 bases.
>> Senior
Alexia Harmon (.327) has improved her batting average over 100 points since the early weeks of the season, leading the sqaud with eight doubles and 15 RBI. Freshman
Annemarie Peavy (.348) has a team-high threee triples and is second with 11 RBI.
>> Cooper (3-2, 1.04 ERA) leads the team in earned run average and has allowed just 14 hits and four earned runs over 27.0 innings pitched. Creel (6-0, 1.86 ERA) has a team-high 48 strikeouts in 49.0 innings pitched.
#10 WEST FLORIDA (18-1, 6-0 GSC)
ROSTER || SCHEDULE || STATS
>> The Argonauts, out of Pensacola, Fla., are arguably the hottest team in the country, opening the season with 18 wins in 19 games and their only loss coming by a score of 1-0 to Florida Tech on February 8th. Since then, they have won 12 straight, including going 6-0 in Gulf South Conference play, outscoring Christian Brothers and Auburn Montgomery by a combined total of 55-4.
>> First-year head coach Ashleigh McLean leads the Argonauts in 2019 after serving as an assistant for four years with the program. UWF was predicted to finish 4th in the GSC Preseason Poll, racking up a first-place vote and 109 total points. Rhiannon Sassman and Rachel Wright were each named to the Preseason All-GSC Team, while Teala Howard (Union County HS) and Mallory Vining (Ponchatoula HS) were named to the Preseason Top Newcomers List.
>> The Argos opened the 2019 season by going 4-0 at the Gulf Coast Invitational in Gulf Shores, Ala. They followed that up with a 4-1 appearance at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. that saw wins over nationally-ranked Saint Leo (#5), West Chester (#8) and Palm Beach Atlantic (#18).
>> UWF opened GSC play with a sweep of Christian Brothers that included a 24-2 win in the series opener, eventually going on to outscore the Lady Bucs, 41-4. They followed that up with a dominating pitching performance against Auburn Montgomery, not allowing a single run to the Warhawks over a three-game sweep.
>> The Argos are the top hitting team in the conference with a .389 batting average as a group, also leading the league with 196 hits and 158 runs scored. They also rank 2nd in earned run average (1.11) and fielding percentage (.976). Opponents are hitting only .167 against UWF and they have made just 12 errors on the season.
>> Sassman (.519) is the team's top hitter in her senior season, leading the squad with five triples, two home runs and 23 RBI. Howard (.509) is also hitting over .500 and is leading the conference with 17 stolen bases in 19 attempts. Wright (.448) is tied for the team-lead with five triples, while Callan Taylor (.333) leads the way with six doubles through 19 games.
>> The pitching staff has combined to allow just 28 total runs in 19 games, led by Kesley Sweatt (6-0, 0.76 ERA) with a team-high 53 strikeouts and 46.1 innings pitched. Tori Perkins (6-0, 0.88 ERA) and Grace Gilbert (6-1, 1.87 ERA) have each made at least nine appearances with five or more starts on the season.
GAME NOTES
TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Lady Choctaws are scheduled to play 29 teams that combined to post a record of 821-689 (.544) in 2018, including four teams that finished the season ranked in the top 12 in the final NFCA rankings. They wiil play defending national champion Southern Indiana (#1), Saint Leo (#5), North Georgia (#3) and Illinois Springfield (#12). USI, SLU and UNG all made it to the College World Series.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Senior
Cori Cooper and freshman
Hannah Creel are the reigning GSC Pitcher and Freshman of the Week, respectively, after their efforts in a sweep of West Georgia. Cooper (2-0, 0.00 ERA) allowed just two hits with 17 strikeouts over 9.0 innings, including tossing 4.0 perfect frames in the 11-inning victory to finish off the sweep. Creel (1-0, 2.00 ERA) struck out a career-high 10 in the series opener and piled up 16 strikeouts with just three walks on the weekend.
GSC-OPENING SWEEP
MC opened Gulf South Conference play last weekend with a three-game sweep of West Georgia, outscoring their opponents from Carrolton by a total of 19-4. A pair of one-run wins, including an 11-inning victory, sandwiched a 13-0 run-rule win for the Lady Choctaws.
While Cooper and Creel dominated in the circle, the offense boasted a team batting average of .350 with a slugging percentage of .525. Junior
Shayla McKissock had a team-high five hits and three stolen bases. Freshman
Annemarie Peavy tripled twice and drove in four runs. Senior
Alexia Harmon pounded out three doubles in the 13-0 victory, while junior
Carly Crawford hit her third home run of the season and freshman
Baylee Freudenberg went deep for the first time in her career.
HOW WE STACK UP
The Lady Choctaws are currently ranked 3rd in the Gulf South Conference in earned run average (1.99), making one of just three teams in the league with less than a 2.00 ERA. Cooper and Creel were named Pitcher and Freshman of the Week after combining for a 1.22 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 23.0 innings of a sweep of West Georgia.
MC also ranks 6th in the league in batting average (.306), sitting 2nd in both doubles (32) and triples (9) behind West Florida. They are also 3rd in the league in stolen bases (49) and on-base percentage (0.412). The Lady Choctaws have improved their fielding statistics as of late, but are still ranked 9th in fielding percentage (0.950) with 28 errors.
WE WERE MERELY FRESHMEN
The 2019 Lady Choctaws have five players that opened their careers in 2016 with an NCCAA National Championship in Troutville, Va.
Alexia Harmon,
Shelby Miller,
Penny Nichols,
Makenzie Nieto and
Kristen Qualls were all a part of the first women's team in MC history to win a national title. The Lady Choctaws cruised through the NCCAA World Series, allowing just 10 runs and scoring 46. They closed out the historic run with a shutout victory over Belhaven that saw only two Blazer baserunners even reach second base against Carlie Sargent.
NEW FACES ALL OVER THE PLACE
The Lady Choctaws welcome 11 newcomers to the 2019 squad, including five freshman and six transfers. Junior
Morgan Bradford (Southern Union State CC) and freshman
Hannah Creel (Bowling Green School) were named to the GSC's Top Newcomer List. The newcomers are from four different states, including Georgia (Bradford,
Hayden Claypool), Louisiana (
Ashley Elsensohn,
Paige Hulin,
Annemarie Peavy,
Gracie Trahan), Mississippi (Creel,
Kendal Daniels,
Abbey Salvo) and Texas (
Baylee Freudenberg,
Grace Hahn).
HOME RUN QUEENS
Junior
Kristen Qualls became MC's all-time home run leader with her 28th long ball on Friday (April 13) against #22 UAH. The home run came with two outs in the seventh inning to tie the score at 6-6. The former Madison Central standout broke the record of 27 home runs held by Brooke Smitherman (2011-15). Qualls also ranks 2nd in school history with 125 runs batted in, just 10 shy of Smitherman (135).
Brianna Caldwell set a single-season record with 14 home runs in 2018. She would set the record with a pair of long balls in the GSC Tournament against Montevallo. It was Caldwell's second time to hit two home runs in a game, also sending two out on February 24th against West Georgia. Her 14 home runs in 2018 already has her 5th in school history for career long balls.
EYE ON THE RECORD BOOKS
There are other Lady Choctaws that are on pace to make their mark on the MC Softball record books, starting with senior
Alexia Harmon, who has played in 176 career games. The record for games played is currently held by
Megan Everett (2014-17), who saw action in 209 contests. The former Madison Central standout also sits in the top 15 in school history in at-bats, hits, runs scored, doubles, runs batted in, total bases, hit-by-pitches, stolen bases and stolen base attempts.
Qualls, Harmon's teammated at MCHS, is also set to rise up the lists, sitting in the Top 15 in games played, slugging percentage, at-bats, hits, runs batted in, total bases, base on balls and hit-by-pitches
LIONS, TIGERS AND BEARS, OH MY!
The 2019 campaign features several unique mascots for the Lady Choctaws as they will face 30 teams with 25 different personalities. The most common mascot opponent for MC will be the Tigers (Ouachita Baptist, Tuskegee and West Alabama), followed by the Bearcats (McKendree and Northwest Missouri State), Lions (Saint Leo and Missouri Southern State) and Tritons (Eckerd and Missouri-St. Louis).
DEFENDING GSC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
The Mississippi College softball team are the last time to win the Guf South Conference Tournament championship game after the 2018 tournament was cut short due to weather. In their first full year of eligibility in Division II and the GSC, the Lady Choctaws capped off a perfect run with an 18-5 win over the hosts UAH in the championship game.
Kristen Qualls was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while
Carly Crawford,
Megan Everett,
Adrianna Morgan and
Haley Thompson joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
NEW STAFF
The Lady Choctaws welcome a pair of new staffers in 2019 as
Roland Rodriguez joins as an assistant coach and
Kasey Cox will be the graduate assistant. Rodriguez has recently been the head softball coach at Millsaps and Ozarks, while Cox just wrapped up her playing career at Tennessee State.
ALL-GSC RETURNERS
The Lady Choctaws return a pair of All-GSC performers from 2018 in junior
Carly Crawford and senior
Cori Cooper. Crawford earned a First Team nod for the second straight season after hitting .341 with seven doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI. Cooper earned Second Team laurels after going 11-3 with a 2.66 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 94.2 innings.
PRESEASON ALL-GSC
The 2018 Preseason All-GSC Softball Team was voted on by the head coaches. Positions were not a factor, and coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players. Senior
Brianna Caldwell and junior
Carly Crawford were named to the team after both earning a spot on the GSC All-Tournament Team in 2018. Caldwell (.333) set a school record with 14 home runs in 2018, while Crawford (.341) was selected to the All-GSC First Team for the second consecutive year.
GSC PRESEASON POLL
The Lady Choctaws were predicted to finish third in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll, following a vote by the league's head coaches. MC also picked up two first-place vote after finishing fourth in the 2018 final standings. Alabama Huntsville was predicted to win the conference after advancing to the Division II Super Regionals last season. The top four teams in the conference were only separated by 29 total points and all receivied first-place votes.
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.
#MC#
