Lady Choctaws Open NCCAA World Series with 10-1 Win Over Oklahoma Wesleyan

The Mississippi College softball team opened the 2015 National Christian College Athletic Association World Series with a 10-1 victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan on Wednesday at the Botetourt Sports Complex.

With the victory, the Lady Choctaws (28-22) will move on to face #1 Judson University (30-15-1) at 3:30 pm (CST).

"I thought it was a great way to start out this tournament," said head coach Brooke O'Hair. "We wanted to come out and make a statement, and the girls did just that. This will give us some confidence going forward."

MC got the scoring going in the first inning when senior Shay Mickens led off with a single. She stole her 79th and 80th bases and scored on a throwing error to give the Lady Choctaws an early lead.

Senior Karla Beth Hux tripled home senior Tori Bankston and MC would add two more runs to grab a 4-0 lead before going on defense.

Junior Carlie Sargent (18-12) would not need much offensive help as she allowed just one hit and struck out seven over 5.0 innings.

The Lady Choctaws would add another run in the third but would break the game open with a five-run fourth inning to take a 10-0 advantage.

MC would score all five runs with two outs, starting with an RBI double off the wall by senior Macey Lee to score Mickens.

The big sticks came out after that as senior Brooke Smitherman and Hux hit back-to-back home runs to extend the lead. Smitherman's was the 27th of her career, an all-time MC record.

Hux would go 2-for-3 with a triple, home run, two RBI and two runs scored.

Mariah Shepherd had both hits for Oklahoma Wesleyan, while Jenna Daniel (17-14) took the loss, going 3.2 innings and giving up six hits and seven earned runs.