By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
Pairings are set for the NJCAA Division II World Series that begins Tuesday in Spartanburg, South Carolina and as expected the Murray State Lady Aggies enter at the number one tournament seed.

Coach Aaron Mullens' unbeaten Lady Aggies will meet surprising Independence Community College from Kansas in the 11 a.m. Central Time matchup at Tiger River Park. The Lady Pirates, who enter the World Series with a 25-21 overall record, advanced to the national tournament with a pair of upsets of Cowley County College.

Independence completed its schedule with a 1-5 record in doubleheaders against the three foes that Murray State dispatched in the Plains District Tournament a week ago – Highland, Johnson County and Labette – but has managed to get hot at the right time by winning eight of its last nine contests.

The Lady Pirates hit .295 as a team led by sophomore catcher Kelly Baker, who bats at a .379 clip. She is the offensive catalyst with a team-high 16 doubles, six homers and 40 runs batted in. Independence has 29 home runs for the season.

Hard-throwing sophomore Mykala Johnico is the ace in the pitching circle with a 15-10 record in 162 innings. She sports a 1.90 earned run average and has struck out a whopping 256 batters with 20 complete game performances.

Murray State counters with a 56-0 record and an offense juggernaut that has accounted for an incredible 100 home runs on the season while notching a team batting average of .404. Every batter in the starting rotation for the Lady Aggies posts at least a .340 mark at the plate with six hitting at a .400 clip or better.

Sophomore catcher Shallen Mershon helps spur the attack with a .450 average along with 19 doubles, two triples and 22 home runs to go with 64 RBI. Centerfielder Chesnie Hewitt adds a .442 average with a team-best 65 runs batted in along with 15 doubles, seven triples and 18 homers.

Alexa Hopkins was the Region 2 Player of the Year as the ace of the Murray State pitching staff with a 20-0 record, nine saves and sparkling 0.74 earned run average. In 151 1/3 innings she has fanned 147 hitters. Christina Clark has returned from injury and also contributes a 17-0 pitching record and 1.32 ERA.

"Our goal is just taking one game at a time," said head coach Aaron Mullens. "Obviously, as the number one seed everyone is gunning for you with their 'A' game. You can't take anyone lightly at this stage because all 16 teams have earned their way.

"You want to stay in the winner's bracket and just have to play one game a day. That's our objective."

Live video stream of all the World Series games will be available at https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index on pay-per-view.