CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College softball team split two games on the opening day of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) MidEast Regional, held at the MC Softball Complex on Tuesday.

The Lady Choctaws (32-19) opened the day with a 4-0 loss to Belhaven (33-6), but bounced back with a 22-0 victory over Alice Lloyd (0-36) to advance to the championship game on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. MC needs two victories on Wednesday to claim the region title.

In the opener, the Blazers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Dani Craft led off the game with a single and came home to score on a double by Makenzie Hawkins.

The MC offense put the pressure on with runners reaching base in all but one inning, but the timely hitting did not show up as nine runners were left on base. The Lady Choctaws left two runners on in the first, second and fourth innings.

Craft struck again with a solo home run in the third inning, her second of the day after hitting one in the opening game of the day, an 8-0 win over Alice Lloyd.

Savannah Lyon tacked on another solo home run in the fourth to extend the Belhaven lead to 3-0. Craft's RBI bunt single in the seventh capped off the scoring.

Juniors Megan Everett and Lauren Mulligan led the MC offense with two hits apice, while Craft hit three base-knocks for the Blazers.

Taylor Surrento (9-3) tossed a complete game shutout with three strikeouts and six hits allowed. Senior Carlie Sargent (17-11) took the loss for MC, giving up four hits and three earned runs.

In the second game, the Lady Choctaws scored at least one run in every inning, including a seven-spot in the fifth inning. MC opened things with five runs in the first and second innings to take a 10-0 lead.

The Lady Choctaws posted five extra-base hits, including an RBI triple for senior Kimmie Conley, her first-career three-bagger.

Sophomore Katherine Lee (2-1) took the win in the circle for MC and went 4-for-4 at the plate with five runs scored. Freshmen Samantha Lee, Haley Muller, Shelby Miller and Cheyenne Mathews each had two hits in the game, while Miller led the team with four RBI.

Everett closed out the game for MC in the circle, making her first-career pitching appearance. The Pearland, Texas native needed just three pitches to record the final three outs for MC.

The Lady Choctaws and Blazers will play on Wednesday with the region champion earning the automatic bid to the NCCAA World Series, starting next week in Roanoke, Va. (May 18-20). Both teams will be highly-seeded going into the national tournament, regardless of Wednesday's results.