CLINTON, Miss. --- The No. 20 Mississippi College baseball team returns to Gulf South Conference action this weekend as the Choctaws travel to Pensacola, Fla., for a three-game series. The series begins on Friday, March 1 at 6 p.m. The weekend action closing out on Saturday, March 2 with a 1 p.m., first pitch doubleheader.
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THE SERIES
• Mississippi College and West Florida prepare to meet for the 13th time on Friday, March 1. West Florida leads the all-time series with a 10-2 record over the Choctaws. Mississippi College won the last meeting between the two schools with a 5-2 victory in Clinton last season. The two squads split the series last season.
• Mississippi College looks for its first win in Pensacola entering the weekend. The Choctaws are 0-6 against the Argonauts on the road. MC's only two wins in the series came last season with the first win coming on Feb. 19, 2016.
• The two teams have met one time away from either school's home field. The lone meeting came in 2017 in the Gulf South Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Miss. West Florida escaped with a 9-6 victory in a contest that started at 9:21 p.m. and concluded at nearly 1 a.m.
• The series between Mississippi College and West Florida is one of the newer ones for the Choctaws. MC and UWF never faced each other prior to the 2015 season. West Florida picked up a sweep in the first series between the two schools in Pensacola.
• There has only been two sweeps in the series between the two schools with West Florida claiming both. The first was in 2015 with the second one coming in 2017 - also in Pensacola.
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SCOUTING THE ARGONAUTS
• West Florida enters the weekend sporting an 8-6 record and 5-1 in the Gulf South Conference. The Argos opened GSC play with a sweep of Christian Brothers and took two of three at Auburn Montgomery last weekend.
• West Florida's dips outside conference play have come in the region and mostly inside the Sunshine State. UWF hosted Florida Southern for three contests, losing two to the Mocs and followed that with a pair of setbacks to Rollins College. The Argonauts split a pair of meetings with nationally ranked Nova Southeastern with the Sharks getting the best of the Argos 1-0 in the last meeting. UWF has also played Spring Hill College, earning a 6-2 win.
• Matthew Estrada leads West Florida at the dish with a .457 batting average. Estrada is tied for tops on the team in home runs and is fourth in RBI. Five Argonatuts are hitting .333 or better on the season.
• The UWF pitching staff has posted a 2.94 ERA through eight games. The Argos' leader in strikeouts is Andrew Vaccacio with 20. Tony Rossi sits second on the team with 17.
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HAWORTH VS. WEST FLORIDA
• Mississippi College head coach
Jeremy Haworth is 2-7 against West Florida. All nine meetings have come during his time in Clinton, Miss.
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CHOCTAWS 20TH in NATIONAL POLL
• After starting the season 10-4, Mississippi College checks in in 20th in the second edition of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25. MC was ranked 18th in the Preseason Poll by the NCBWA and 18th in the first poll.
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RECORD CHASING
• After the weekend Lindenwood, two Choctaws moved up the career record lists.
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Blaine Crim sits second in hits (201), at-bats (588), RBI (157); third in home runs (27) and total bases (327); fifth in doubles (39) and sixth in runs scored (130). The Mobile, Ala., native is seven games away from reaching the top 10 in games played.
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Tommy Taborda is third in saves (9) and seventh in appearances (50).
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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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LAST TIME OUT: SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
• Mississippi College fell 12-6 to No. 17 Southern Arkansas on Tuesday afternoon at Frierson Field. The Muleriders scored all 12 runs in two innings. The Choctaws picked up home runs from
Chauncey Callier and
Ty Alderman in the setback and MC sent six pitchers to the mound.
Brandon Kennedy led the team as he recorded a career-high seven strikeouts in a relief effort.
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.
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