CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team suffered their first home losses of the season in a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Montevallo on Saturday afternoon at the MC Softball Complex.
The Falcons (19-19, 10-11 GSC) pulled away late for a 8-4 win in the first game, while the Lady Choctaws (26-10, 10-7) lost a late lead in a 6-5 loss in the second contest.
GAME ONE: MONTEVALLO 8, #22 MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 4
HOW IT HAPPENED
>> The Falcons jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs on two-out RBI singles in the first inning by Carlee Mullinax and Lady Sarah Federico.
>> MC responded with the game-tying runs in the second inning as junior
Carly Crawford hit her sixth home run of the season and freshman
Gracie Trahan brought in freshman
Grace Hahn with a squeeze bunt.
>> Federico gave UM the lead back in the third with an RBI double, while the Falcons pushed the lead to 5-2 in the fourth with two more runs.
>> Trahan came up with a clutch hit in MC's half of the fourth, singling home Crawford and senior
Kristen Qualls to cut the lead to 5-4.
>> The next two innings were scoreless, but the Falcons put the game away in the seventh with a three-run home run from Haley Barnette.
KEY STATS
>> Freshman
Hannah Creel (11-3) took the loss in the circle for MC, allowing nine hits and five earned runs over 3.1 innings.
>> Crawford, Qualls and junior
Shayla McKissock each had two hits for MC.
>> Crawford scored two runs to go along with the home run, while Trahan drove in a career-high three runs.
>> Mychael McMillan (7-4) picked up the win for the Falcons, giving up six hits and four earned runs over 4.2 innings.
>> Abbey Pratt earned the save by tossing 2.1 scoreless innings to close the game.
>> Barnette and Federico each had three hits in the game and combined for five RBI.
GAME TWO: MONTEVALLO 6, #22 MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 5
HOW IT HAPPENED
>> The Lady Choctaws got off to a fast start in the finale, putting up three runs in the first inning as Crawford singled home McKissock to open the scoring.
>> Senior
Alexia Harmon came up big with a two-out, two-run single that scored Crawford and Hahn.
>> The Falcons got two runs back in the fourth inning as they loaded the bases with no outs and two touched home plate on a double played turned by Harmon and junior
Morgan Bradford.
>> MC appeared to take control of the game in the fifth inning as Qualls hit her third home run of the season, a two-run shot, to extend the lead to 5-2.
>> Montevallo chipped away at the lead with a run in the sixth as Caroline Pope stole third and came home on an error.
>> The big blow came in the seventh as the Lady Choctaws looked to wrap up the series, but Carlee Mullinax would hit a three-run home run that proved to be the difference.
KEY STATS
>> Harmon led the Lady Choctaws with two hits and two RBI, while Qualls drove in a pair with the long ball.
>> Senior
Cori Cooper (8-6) took the loss, giving up eight hits and five earned runs over 6.1 innings.
>> Cooper also struck out eight in the game, giving her 16 in the series, 29 on the week and 107 on the season.
>> Brooke Ingram led the Montevallo offense with three hits, including two doubles and a triple.
>> Pratt (6-4) came out of the bullpen and tossed the final 2.0 innings in perfect fashion.
NEXT UP
>> The Lady Choctaws will be back home on Wednesday when they will host Spring Hill for a doubleheader at 2:00 p.m. at the MC Softball Complex.
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#
