CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team returns to the diamond on Sunday, March 10 as it faces Valdosta State University in a Gulf South Conference doubleheader at Smith-Wills Stadium. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
 
The series finale is slated for Monday, March 11 at Frierson Field at Dickins-Scoper Stadium. First pitch at 12 p.m.
 
THE SERIES
• Mississippi College and Valdosta State meet for the 16th time in series history on Sunday, March 10 in the first game of the doubleheader. Valdosta State leads the series 10-5. The Choctaws have won the last three meetings in the series as they swept VSU in Valdosta, Ga., in 2017.
• The Blazers own the series 5-1 in games in Clinton. Mississippi College's lone win on its home field came in 1992 in the final game of a three-game series. The Choctaws lead the series 4-2 in Valdosta, Ga.
• The last three, three-game series have finished with sweeps. Valdosta State has two of the three sweeps with Mississippi College's lone sweep coming in 2017. The Blazers swept MC in 2015 in Valdosta and claimed a wacky series in a neutral site series Tifton, Ga. in 2016.
• The first meeting in the series came in 1992 in Clinton. VSU claimed the first two meetings in a doubleheader on Feb. 29 with a pair of 2-1 victories. The Choctaws rallied to win the series finale on March 1 with a 10-8 win.
• The two programs squared off six times prior to Mississippi College returning to the Gulf South Conference in 2015. MC and VSU met in a pair of three-game series in 1992 and 1993.
 
SCOUTING THE BLAZERS
• Valdosta State enters the weekend with a 12-8 record and 3-3 in the Gulf South Conference. The Blazers have lost three of its last five outings, including a 7-3 loss against Brewton-Parker College on Wednesday.
• VSU evened its conference record by taking the series from Union. The Red and Black split its Sunday twinbill and claimed the series with an 8-5 victory over the Bulldogs. VSU went 1-2 at Lee to open GSC play.
• The Blazers are 6-5 away from Billy Grant Field this season. VSU is 4-5 in true road games.
• Logan Stephens and DJ King pace the Blazers offensively at the plate. Stephens leads the team with a .405 batting average and has compiled 17 hits. King ranks second on the team with a .351 average. Three other Blazers are hitting over .300 on the campaign. VSU is hitting .290 as a team.
• The Blazers have posted a 3.24 ERA this season and have combined for 223 strikeouts. Cooper Cain paces the pitching staff with 43 strikeouts this season. Tristan Cone and Jonathan Gettys are closing in on the 40-plus strikeout plateau with 37 and 36 respectively.
 
HAWORTH VS. VALDOSTA STATE
• Mississippi College head coach Jeremy Haworth is 3-3 against Valdosta State. All six meetings have come during his time in Clinton, Miss.
 
CHOCTAW LEADERS AT THE PLATE
• Mississippi College's leadership at the plate has come from its senior class. Billy Cameron, Blaine Crim and Grant Barber have combined to lead the Choctaws in batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles and home runs.
 
RECORD CHASING
• Blaine Crim sits second in hits (204), at-bats (598), RBI (161), total bases (334); third in home runs (28); fourth in doubles (40); sixth in runs scored (133); and 10th in games played (161). The Mobile, Ala., native is seven games away from reaching the top 10 in games played.
• Tommy Taborda is third in saves (9) and seventh in appearances (50).
• Zack Ingram is 8.2 innings away from the career innings pitched list and 15 strikeouts from the top 10 in career strikeouts.
 
CHOCTAWS FALL OUT OF NCBWA POLL
• After going 0-4 last week, Mississippi College fell out of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 Poll. The Choctaws started the season ranked No. 18 in the preseason poll and fell to No. 20 last week after going 3-0 in their GSC opener against West Georgia.
 
LAST TIME OUT: WEST FLORIDA
• Mississippi College dropped a three-game series at West Florida over the weekend. It's the first time this season MC has been swept and the first since March 5, 2017 against Shorter. The Choctaws totaled 22 hits in the series and 12 runs scored. The MC pitching staff combined for a 5.73 ERA in 22 innings. The Argos hit .333 against the staff on the weekend.

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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.