Tweet #FiredUp

A seventh inning rally came up short as the Lee softball team suffered a 7-6 loss to the No. 23 Mississippi College Choctaws on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at Butler Field.

The Lady Flames had runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh. The Choctaws short-circuited the rally with a game-ending strikeout by Cori Cooper (6-4) to complete the three-game Gulf South Conference series sweep. Cooper worked four relief innings allowing four hits and one unearned run.

Choctaws used five extra base hits and 13 total hits to keep the pressure on the Lee defense throughout the contest.  MC scored in five of the seven innings with Makenzie Nieto's seventh inning RBI double proving to be the game-winner.

Lee's Kiley Longmire was a perfect 3 for 3 and reached base in all four plate appearances. The junior had three RBI. Kayla Louie had two hits and scored a pair of runs. Claudia Jones added a double and scored a run.

Taylor De Adder (5-6) tossed all seven innings allowing 13 hits and seven runs. She struck out six and walked three. De Adder helped her cause at the plate with a double, single and two RBI. De Adder tied things up at 4-4 in the fourth inning but Mississippi College responded with two runs in the sixth.

Bri Caldwell homered twice for the Choctaws and finished with three RBI. Shayla McKissock got Mississippi College off on the right foot with a leadoff triple to start the game. She scored on a sacrifice bunt from Alexia Harmon, who went 3 for 3 in the contest.

"We still have things to improve on. We have dedicated ourselves to playing together and working hard,'" said Lee head coach Emily Russell. "It will be a tough road for us in conference but I feel that we can still turn it around."

Lee falls to 11-18 and 1-10 in conference play while the Choctaws improve to 20-6 and 8-3 in the GSC.

The Lady Flames will be back in action next weekend as they host Christian Brothers in a three-game series. The GSC set begins with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.