GULF SHORES, Ala. --- The Mississippi College softball team opened the 2020 season with a two-game split against #25 Saint Leo and Midwestern State at the Gulf Shores Sports Plex.

The Lady Choctaws opened the day with a 3-2 loss in eight innings to SLU, while they bounced back for a 7-3 win over MSU.
 

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#25 SAINT LEO 3, MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 2 (8 INNINGS)

HOW IT HAPPENED
  - The Lady Choctaws jumped out to a quick lead, taking advantage of a pair of errors to score twice in the third inning.
  - Shayla McKissock and Kendal Daniels each drove in runs for MC to take the 2-0 lead.
  - Hannah Creel made the lead stand up through six innings, holding the Lion offense scoreless until the seventh.
  - In the seventh, the Lions scored a pair of runs with one out and loaded the bases before Creel shut the door and sent the game to extra innings.
  - In the eighth, MC got a runner over to third base with no outs but squandered the opportunity before Saint Leo scored the game-winner in their half of the frame.

KEY STATS
  - Freshman Rayne Minor had a big collegiate debut with three hits and a run scored.
  - At the plate, however, the Lady Choctaws struck out 13 times against Madi Mott.
  - Creel (0-1) went 7.0 innings and scattered nine hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
  - Mott (1-0) struck out her 13 batters with no walks and six hits allowed.
 

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MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 7, MIDWESTERN STATE 3

HOW IT HAPPENED
  - The Lady Choctaws quickly struck in the second game, as well, putting up four runs to take an early 4-0 lead through an inning.
  - Daniels got the scoring going with a two-run double to score Minor and Annemarie Peavy.
  - Hayden Claypool followed that up with a two-out, two-run single to score Daniels and Baylee Freudenberg.
  - After the Mustangs got a run back in the third, Freudenberg hit MC's first home run of the season, a two-run shot, to put the Lady Choctaws ahead, 6-1.
  - The seventh run of the game came in the fifth when Morgan Bradford singled home pinch-runner Paige Hulin with two outs.
  - MSU scored single runs in the sixth and seventh, but Avery Barnett finished off her first collegiate complete game to give MC the 7-3 victory.

KEY STATS
  - Minor had another multi-hit game and stole her fourth base of the day, also scoring her second run of the tournament.
  - Peavy and Freudenberg each scored a pair of runs, while Freudenberg, Daniels and Claypool each drove in two runs.
  - Barnett threw all 7.0 innings, scattering 13 hits and walking just one with two strikeouts.
 

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NEXT UP
  - The Lady Choctaws will wrap up the Gulf Coast Invitational on Sunday when they face #16 North Georgia (2:00 pm) and Tuskegee (4:00 pm)
 

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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 began 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.