LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Softball team begins their pursuit to a GSC Championship on Wednesday as the Tigers open up the Gulf South Conference Tournament with a 10:00 a.m. matchup against the Mississippi College Choctaws.
West Alabama (30-17, 19-13 GSC) enters the Tournament as the six-seed while Mississippi College (34-15, 22-11 GSC) comes in as the three-seed. Back in February, the Tigers travelled to Clinton, Mississippi and swept the Choctaws.
In that series, pitching was the calling card for UWA as they held MC to just five runs over the course of 21 innings. The series marked the beginning of a dominant run for West Alabama's dynamic pitching duo of Madison Wright and Eleanor De Block in conference play. De Block carved through the Choctaws order, finishing the series with a line of 10.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 7 SO. As for Wright, she put together a line of 8.1 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 8 SO to lead the Tigers to their sweep.
Offensively, Marissa Mitchell accumulated four hits, while Taylor Clegg and Trinity Hatcher belted Home Runs with Hatcher's being a Grand Slam.
The early season series between West Alabama and Mississippi College served as the first Gulf South series for both teams, as now, in late April, both teams are different.
With Mitchell, Clegg, and Ann Marie Stanbridge getting a lot of the attention offensively for the Tigers, players such as Hatcher, Haley Shannon, Ella Watson will be key for UWA on Wednesday. Hatcher and Shannon have flip flopped being in the leadoff spot all season, with both bringing different approaches to the plate. Hatcher brings a mix of power and speed in the leadoff spot while Shannon is one of the better contact hitters along with elite level speed. If the Tigers' outfielder duo can get on-base consistently for UWA's table setters in Mitchell, Clegg, and Stanbridge, West Alabama will put themselves in position to advance on Wednesday.
Heading into the Tournament, Mitchell is batting .398 along with 15 Home Runs, and 43 RBIs, while Clegg brings in a batting average of .366, five Home Runs, and 27 RBIs. Stanbridge, along with Mitchell, has been an RBI machine as she's driven in 38 runs while hitting .317 with three Home Runs. On the mound, Wright carries a team-high 17 wins with a 2.66 ERA while De Block leads the Tigers in ERA with a 2.18 mark, resulting in 10 wins in 115.2 innings of work.
Mississippi College has put together a record of 28-8 since their early season losses to West Alabama, including a 15-game winning streak that lasted from February 26-March 22. The Choctaws are exquisite at the plate, bringing a team batting average of .316 which is the third highest in the GSC. A quartet of talented bats resides on MC's roster in the form of Shelby Samples, Blakely Gill, Megan Matheis, and Madelyn England.
Samples sets the stage for the Choctaws, leading the team and ranking second in the league with a .428 batting average while Gill is arguably the most talented bat in the order. The freshman finished her first collegiate regular season with a .409 batting average, five Home Runs, and a team-high 38 RBIs. Gill has also flexed her muscle as a five tool player, stealing 13 bases and has only committed one error all season. As for England and Matheis, they bring even more pop to MC's lineup as the duo leads the team in Home Runs with seven and six, respectively while also hitting over .350.
On the mound, Camryn Bailey and Madison Jenkins are the starters. Bailey has recorded a 14-6 record along with a team-best 2.15 ERA while Jenkins as been just as good in the two spot in the rotation, registering a 13-4 record with a 2.63 ERA. Out of the bullpen, freshman AK Wilingham has been stellar, posting a 1.46 ERA in 12 appearances and 24.0 innings.
Back in February, UWA pushed across seven runs and posted 13 hits against the duo of Bailey and Jenkins.
First pitch for Wednesday's GSC Tournament matchup between No. 6 West Alabama and No. 3 Mississippi College is set for 10:00 a.m. from Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
