CLINTON, Miss. — #10 Mississippi College clinched a thrilling 8-7 victory over West Florida in the opening game of the weekend's three-game Gulf South Conference series behind Camryn Bailey's career night in the circle with 12 strikeouts.
The scoring flurry began early in the first inning when West Florida's Emma Brice added a home run, driving in the game's inaugural run. However, MC countered in the bottom of the inning as Jordan LaFosse's sacrifice fly brought in an unearned run, evening the score at 1-1.
The back-and-forth continued into the third inning with both teams trading runns. West Florida regained the lead as Brice drove in another run, but MC answered with McCall Lee's RBI single, followed by Brookelyn Cannon's clutch hit, giving MC a 3-2 advantage.
The Lady Choctaws extended their lead in the fourth inning as Emily Rigney's two-run inside the park home run pushed them ahead 5-2. However, Brice delivered another two-run blast in the fifth inning, narrowing the gap to 5-4.
The game reached a deadlock in the sixth inning as West Florida managed to tie the score at 5-5. Yet, MC rallied once more, with JaKayla Shankle's RBI single and Jordan LaFosse's two-RBI double propelling MC back ahead by three-runs, 8-5.
West Florida staged a dramatic comeback effort in the seventh inning, with Eri Moon's two-run homer bringing them within one-run, 8-7. With bases loaded, two outs, and MC up 8-7, Brookelyn Cannon entered into the game and struck out the final batter to secure the 8-7 win. It was Cannon's first save of the season.
McCall Lee led MC, going 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and one RBI. LaFosse added three runs batted in with two hits, while JaKayla Shankle scored two runs and drove in one, and finished with two hits.
In the circle, Camryn Bailey delivered a career-high 12 strikeouts over 6.2 innings to improve her record to 7-2. MC improved to 16-3 overall on the season and 4-3 in GSC player, after winning their sixth consecutive game.
MC and UWF go head to head for games two and three on Sunday, beginning at 12 p.m. at the MC Softball Complex in Clinton, Miss.
