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The Mississippi College softball team clinched an NCCAA MidEast Regional berth with a doubleheader sweep at Millsaps on Wednesday afternoon.
The Lady Choctaws (28-12) opened the day with a 9-1 win and closed the twin-bill with a 7-0 victory over the Majors (18-16).
Junior Tylan Buckley was the offensive star for an MC team that tallied 23 hits in the doubleheader. The Philadelphia, Miss. native went 6-for-6 with seven RBI, two home runs, a double and four runs scored.
Buckley drove in six runs in the first game, the most for a Lady Choctaw since senior Kimmie Conley drove in six against Louisiana College on March 5, 2013.
She got things going early in the first game, hitting her first long ball of the day, a three-run shot in the first inning that scored sophomore Katherine Lee and junior Megan Everett after they singled to open the game.
The Majors would add a run of their own in the first, but senior Madison Oliver got the score right back with an RBI double to score junior Lauren Mulligan. Everett and Buckley also singled home runs in the inning to make the score 6-1 after two frames.
Senior Carlie Sargent (14-7) did not need much more help as the Oxford, Ala. native allowed just four hits and struck out seven with no walks over the complete game.
Freshman Kristen Qualls drove in Everett with a sacrifice fly in the 4th, while Buckley drove in two more runs with a single in the 6th to give the game its final score.
Lee (2-for-3) and Everett (3-for-4) joined Buckley with multiple-hit games, while seven different Lady Choctaws recorded hits in the victory.
In the second game, the Lady Choctaws used another big first inning to set the tone as freshman Shelby Miller singled home a run and Qualls drove in two more runs with a single.
Freshman Penny Nichols (13-4) tallied her third shutout of the season in the circle, giving up just four hits with three strikeouts over 7.0 innings.
Oliver added another RBI double in the second inning, while Buckley hit her second home run of the season and 10th of the year in the 3rd inning.
After a sacrifice fly by Oliver in the 6th, freshman Alexia Harmon doubled home Buckley in the 7th to give the game its final score.
Nine different Lady Choctaws tallied hits in the game, including pinch-hits from sophomore Mikayla Carruth and freshman Makenzie Nieto.
The Lady Choctaws will be on the road this weekend when they travel to Florence, Ala. for a three-game series with #6 North Alabama. The series is set to begin on Saturday with a doubleheader at 2:00 p.m.
