CLINTON, Miss. --- The #25 Mississippi College softball team wrapped up the 2019 regular season with a 4-2 win over Delta State University on Sunday afternoon at the MC Softball Complex.

The Lady Choctaws (38-12, 19-9 GSC) will go into next week's Gulf South Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face West Georgia in the opening round on Thursday at 10:00 a.m.

Following the Sunday win, the Lady Choctaws honored eight senior players and team manager Macy Riley, who all participated in their final games at the MC Softball Complex.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED

>> The day began with a special moment as four seniors (Shelby Miller, Adrianna Morgan, Makenzie Nieto and Penny Nichols), who have missed a majority of the season due to injury, started the game and played one pitch in their final home outing.
>> The first run of the game scored in the second inning as freshman Gracie Trahan executed a perfect squeeze bunt to bring home junior Morgan Bradford who doubled earlier in the inning.
>> Sophomore Kayla Murphy gave the Lady Choctaws a 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to right field that saw junior Shayla McKissock cross the plate.
>> DSU threatened in the fourth inning as they put runners on second and third with one out, but senior Cori Cooper wriggled off the hook to keep the Lady Statesmen scoreless.
>> Trahan extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth as she doubled to left-center field, scoring Bradford and making the lead 3-0.
>> DSU finally broke through against Cooper in the fifth when Kelly Byrd singled home Mallory Myers and cut the advantage to 3-1.
>> They would cut the score to 3-2, but junior Carly Crawford cut down a runner trying to take third base to end the inning.
>> The Lady Choctaws scored a massive insurance run in the sixth as Murphy notched her second sacrifice fly of the game to score pinch-runner Paige Hulin and take a 4-2 lead.
>> Cooper finished the game off in the seventh with a perfect frame, ending the game with a pop-out to herself.
 

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KEY STATS

>> Cooper (13-7) got all 21 outs for the Lady Choctaws, allowing six hits with six strikeouts and two earned runs.
>> Trahan led the MC offense with two hits and two runs batted in, while Bradford scored two runs on the day and Murphy drove in a pair.
>> The 7-8-9 hitters in the MC lineup went 4-for-5 with a run scored and all four RBI.
>> Nicole Fullilove (12-14) took the loss for the Lady Statesmen, allowing four hits and three earned runs over 3.1 innings pitched.
>> Myers led the DSU offense with three hits and a run scored.
 

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NEXT UP

>> The Lady Choctaws will face West Georgia in the opening round of the GSC Tournament at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday (May 2).
 

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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.

For more information on Mississippi College athletics, please contact David Nichols at 601-925-3234 or nichols@mc.edu.