CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team will play their final non-conference games of the season on Wednesday when they host Miles College for a doubleheader. The teams will play the twin-bill at the MC Softball Complex at 4:00 p.m.
SERIES INFORMATION
MATCHUP: Mississippi College (34-11, 17-8 GSC) vs. Miles (7-32, 6-11 SIAC)
TIME: Wednesday, April 23rd - 4:00 pm (DH)
LOCATION: Clinton, Miss. || MC Softball Complex
THE SERIES
>> The two schools have met 11 previous times with the Lady Choctaws winning each time. MC picked up a doubleheader sweep on March 19th, outscoring the Golden Bears, 22-1. Last season, Miles came to Clinton and MC grabbed a pair of wins (9-1 and 11-2).
MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE (34-11, 17-8 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 (376 wins) in school history and has the top winning percentage (.626) among the school's five head coaches.
>> The Lady Choctaws are coming off a road doubleheader split against West Alabama that saw them bounce back from a 3-1 loss in the opener with a 9-2 win in the nightcap. MC was slated at #5 in the initial NCAA South Region rankings, which is used to select the at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament.
>> The Lady Choctaws, out of Clinton, Miss., have won 9-of-10 games following a home series loss against Montevallo at the end of March. MC is 17-3 in non-conference games this season with all three losses coming to nationally-ranked teams. MC picked up a doubleheader split at West Alabama last weekend, bouncing back from a tough 3-1 loss to grab a 9-2 win in the nightcap.
>> MC is currently sitting in the 3-seed in the Gulf South Conference and were slated at No. 5 in the initial NCAA South Region rankings. The Lady Choctaws can jump up to the 2-seed in the tournament with a big weekend against rival Delta State.
>> Junior
Carly Crawford (.368) has been the team's top hitter this season, pacing the squad in hits (46), doubles (14), home runs (7), RBI (39) and slugging percentage (.664). Freshman
Annemarie Peavy (.344) is just behind with 11 doubles and she also ranks just behind junior
Shayla McKissock (.331) in runs scored with 36 and 33, respectively.
>> Senior
Brianna Caldwell (.317) has been heating up as of late, hitting safely in 11 of the last 12 games, including hitting her 19th career home run in the series finale against West Alabama. Seniors
Alexia Harmon (.302) and
Kristen Qualls (.290) will be wrapping up their home careers this week as Harmon is slated to be MC's all-time leader in games played, while Qualls is the tops in school history in home runs, RBI and total bases.
>> The pitching staff, led by senior
Cori Cooper and freshman
Hannah Creel, have carried the team at times this season, leading the league in earned run average (1.91). Cooper (11-7, 1.53 ERA) leads the GSC in strikeouts/7 innings and shutouts, while Creel (15-3, 1.78 ERA) is second in wins and ERA.
MILES (7-32, 6-11 SIAC)
ROSTER || SCHEDULE || STATS
>> The Golden Bears, out of Fairfield, Ala., are 7-32 on the season with a 6-11 mark in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. They currently rank 5th in the SIAC West Division with one series against Kentucky State slated for this coming weekend. Led by 16th-year head coach Patrick Peasant, they are 0-16 against teams from the Gulf South Conference this season and play a doubleheader at West Alabama on Tuesday.
>> As a team, the Golden Bears are hitting .225, which ranks 9th in the SIAC, while their 4.14 stolen bases per game lead the nation. Their .915 fielding percentage is 9th in the league, while their ERA of 9.01 is also 9th in the conference.
>> Zakierra Webb (.361) leads the team in batting average and RBI (29), while also having a team-high 39 hits and ranking 2nd on the squad with 36 stolen bases. Davis Watkins (.343) leads the way with 35 runs scored, three doubles and 41 stolen bases. Kristien Looney (.342) has also swiped 28 stolen bases on the season.
>> Zamiyah Williams (1-9, 9.22 ERA) pitched all 10.0 innings against the Lady Choctaws on March 19th and leads the team with 32 strikeouts in 83.0 innings. Magen Rich (2-15, 9.66 ERA) has tossed a team-high 105.1 innings and has tallied 11 complete games in 15 starts.
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.
A NO-NO FOR CREEL
Freshman
Hannah Creel moved into rarified air among MC pitchers with a no-hitter against Miles College on Tuesday (March 19). The two-time GSC Freshman of the Week struck out nine batters with no walks and the only baserunner allowed came on an MC error. It was the first no-hitter for a Lady Choctaw since Carlie Sargent turned the trick on April 16, 2016 against UAH.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
For the first time in school history, the Lady Choctaws boast a pitching staff with a pair of hurlers that have topped the 100 strikeout mark. There have only been 11 100-punchout campaigns in MC history (dating back to 1986) and senior
Cori Cooper (151) and
Hannah Creel (109) have turned the trick this season. The closest a team has come to accomplishing the feat was in 2007 when Kayla Watkins (104) and Katie Perry (94) were the top two pitchers.
OPENING AT NO. 5 IN SOUTH REGION RANKINGS
The first NCAA Softball region rankings were released on Wednesday (April 17), and the Lady Choctaws opened at No. 5 in the initial list. The region rankings are what determines the at-large selections in the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season. The conference champions from the Gulf South, Southern Intercollegiate and Sunshine State Conferences automatically qualify, leaving five at-large bids up for grabs.
GETTING BETTER AT THE RIGHT TIME
The Lady Choctaws are 9-1 in the month of April and have yet to allow more than three runs in a game over the 10 games. That stretch included five shutouts and just eight total errors with six errorless contests.
HOW WE STACK UP
The Lady Choctaws now have the top earned run average (1.91) in the conference and are second in the league in strikeouts (284). Senior
Cori Cooper (1.53) and freshman
Hannah Creel (1.78) have the top two marks in the league while also ranking in the top five in strikeouts with 151 and 109, respectively.
MC is also 4th in the league in batting average (.303), ranking 2nd in doubles (75) and triples (16) and 3rd in runs scored (277) and stolen bases (120).
NEW RBI AND TOTAL BASES CHAMP
Senior
Kristen Qualls set a new MC career RBI record in style with a grand slam in the doubleheader sweep of Union on Wednesday (Mar. 27). The former Madison Central standout went deep in the fifth inning with the bases loaded to give her 139 career runs batted in, breaking the record previously held by Brooke Smitherman (2011-15), who had 135 over her illustrious career. She also holds the all-time total bases mark with 304 after four singles against West Alabama. That record was also taken from Smitherman, who finished her career with 302.
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).
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 18 home runs in 2018 already has her 4th 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 196 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#
