HUNTSVILLE, Ala. --- The Mississippi College softball team pounded out a statement win with a 9-4 victory over #1 Southern Indiana on Saturday at the Charger Chillout 2.0.
The Lady Choctaws opened the day with an 8-1 win over Henderson State and are now 4-0 at the tournament being held at the Kiwanis Sportsplex.
GAME ONE: MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 8, HENDERSON STATE
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lady Choctaws (6-2) struck first in the bottom of the opening inning as freshman
Baylee Freudenberg singled home junior Shayla McKissoock.
The Reddies (3-3) responded in the top of the second as Ashlyn Taylor singled home Selena Mendoza to make the score 1-1.
Freshman
Hannah Creel (2-0) struck out the next two batters to keep the game tied.
MC would get all the offense they needed for the game in the second inning as freshman
Gracie Trahan used a squeeze bunt to score senior
Alexia Harmon with the eventual game-winning run.
Sophomore
Ashley Elsensohn gave the Lady Choctaws some insurance in the same inning with a two-run single that scored Trahan and junior
Morgan Bradford.
The Lady Choctaws put the game away with four runs in the third inning, highlighted by a two-run triple from Trahan to score Bradford and sophomore
Kayla Murphy.
McKissock also had an RBI single in the inning to score Elsensohn and give the game its final score.
KEY STATS
Creel tossed her first career complete game, scattering eight hits with six strikeouts and just one walk.
McKissock and Bradford each had two hits for MC, while Bradford and Trahan scored twice.
Mallory Brewer (2-2) took the loss for the Reddies, giving up six hits and eight runs over 2.2 innings.
Madie Green, Mendoza and Taylor each had two hits to lead the HSU offense.
GAME TWO: MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 9, #1 SOUTHERN INDIANA 4
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Screaming Eagles came out firing in the first inning as Katie Back singled home a pair of runs with two outs to take a quick 2-0 lead.
The Lady Choctaws would not let that lead last long, however, as they put up four runs in the second and would not look back.
Harmon doubled home senior
Brianna Caldwell for MC's first run and came home to score on a groundout from Murphy.
The big blow was a two-out, two-run triple by Elsensohn that scored Trahan and Bradford.
The game would remain 4-2 in favor of MC until the fifth when freshman
Baylee Freudenberg doubled home McKissock to extend the lead to 5-2.
USI made the game interesting in their half of the fifth, leading off with three straight hits, including a triple and the score would get to 5-4 with no outs and a runner on.
Senior
Cori Cooper came out of the bullpen and was able to keep the lead and picked up her second save of the season.
The Lady Choctaws blew the game open in the sixth with four more runs, taking advantage of two errors and pounding out five hits in the frame.
Cooper put an exclamation point on the victory with three strikeouts in the seventh.
KEY STATS
Senior
Adrianna Morgan (2-1) allowed eight hits and four earned runs over 4.0 innings but grabbed her second win of the tournament.
Cooper allowed just one baserunner on a walk over the final three innings, striking out five.
Caldwell led the MC offense with a three-hit day, while McKissock, Freudenberg and Trahan also had two hits apiece.
Elsensohn and Freudenberg drove in a pair of runs, while MC six extra-base knocks in the contest, including five doubles.
Katie Back (0-2) took the loss for USI, giving up eight hits and four earned runs over 4.0 innings.
Claire Johnson and Kat Mueller each had a team-high two hits for the Screaming Eagles.
NEXT UP
The Lady Choctaws will wrap up the Charger Chillout 2.0 on Sunday with games against #12 Illinois-Springfield (9:00 am) and McKendree (11:00 am).
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#
