CLINTON, Miss. --- For the third consecutive year, the Mississippi College softball team will compete in the NCCAA MidEast Regional, hosting it for the second time, on May 10-11 at the MC Softball Complex.

The Lady Choctaws (31-18) come into the regional as the #1 seed and will play at 4:30 pm against the winner of the 2:00 pm game between Belhaven (31-6) and Alice Lloyd (0-34). The winner of the regional earns the automatic bid into the NCCAA World Series in Roanoke, Va. (May 18-20).

MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE
The Lady Choctaws are led by 10th-year head coach Brooke O'Hair, who is the winningest skipper in Lady Choctaw history and picked up her 250th career win on February 28th against West Alabama. She has led MC to four 30-win seasons, three NCAA Regional appearances and two NCCAA World Series.

MC comes into the tournament from NCAA Division II, where they are a member of the Gulf South Conference. The Lady Choctaws finished 7th in the final standings with a league mark of 18-15.

After opening the season 6-8 with an 0-6 mark in the GSC, the Lady Choctaws ran off 18 wins in 19 games, including a 13-game winning streak. Overall, MC went 14-2 in the month of March. In April, the schedule ramped up a big with three nationally-ranked teams, but MC was able to close out the season with a series win over Lee.

Senior Carlie Sargent (17-10, 1.82 ERA) is the leader of the pitching staff, tossing 25 complete games with six shutouts, including the school's first-ever perfect game on April 16th at #25 UAH. Her 173 strikeouts this season is the 2nd-best mark in school history behind Katie Waterbury, who struck out 177 in 2002.

At the plate, MC is led by freshman Kristen Qualls (.371) who leads the team in batting average, hits (53), RBI (42) and on-base percentage (.456). She is also tied for the team lead with 10 doubles and a school record 11 home runs.

Junior Tylan Buckley (.339) is also tied for the team lead with 11 home runs and paces theh Lady Choctaws with 37 runs scored and a .722 slugging percentage. Buckley, Qualls and Sargent were all named to the NCCAA All-MidEast Region Team last week.

Freshman pitcher Penny Nichols (13-7, 2.66 ERA) has been a nice complement to Sargent in the circle, tossing 18 complete games with three shutouts herself. The Orange City, Fla. native has the most wins for an MC freshman pitcher since Whitney Warner (15) in 2009.

Freshman Alexia Harmon (.323) is tied with Qualls for the team lead with 10 doubles and is second on the team with 31 runs scored. Junior Megan Everett (.315) leads the team with 162 at-bats and ranks 2nd with 50 hits.

The Lady Choctaws set a new school record with 114 stolen bases this season, the previous record being 109 in 2014. Sophomore Katherine Lee leads MC with 31 swipes, while junior Haley Thompson has 22 steals in 24 attempts.

The Lady Choctaws are hitting .284 as a team with 30 home runs, the second highest total in school history. They average 5.5 runs per game, including scoring 10 or more six times. On the season, MC is 30-6 when they score three or more runs in a game. The Lady Choctaws are just 1-12 when they score two or fewer.

MC's team ERA is 2.41 on the year with 229 strikeouts in 325.2 innings pitched. The Lady Choctaws also field at a .962 clip, making one or fewer errors in 34 of 49 games. MC is 26-8 when they make one or fewer errors in a contest.

The Lady Choctaws have advanced to the NCCAA World Series in 2014 and 2015, finishing 5th in 2014 and 4th in 2015. The tournament in Roanoke, Va. is set to begin on Wednesday, May 18th. 

BELHAVEN
The Blazers are led by 6th-year head coach Kevin Griffin, who has compiled a 220-96 record in his tenure, the winningest coach in school history. Prior to his time with the Blazers, Griffin spen three years as the head coach at Clinton High School.

Belhaven is currently in transition from NAIA to Division III, where they have competed in the American Southwest Conference this season, a league MC was a part of for 18 years. The Blazers went 24-6 in league play, including grabbing a series win over #1 Texas Tyler on February 20th.

The Blazers ran off 20 consecutive wins from March 2nd-April 8th and lost just one of their last 28 games after opening the season 4-5. Belhaven has won six straight games coming into the tournament, including sweeping Mary Hardin-Baylor to close out the year.

Junior Julienne Broussard (14-2, 0.81 ERA) leads a pitching staff that has posted a 1.86 ERA as a team this season. Her only two losses of the year came on succssive days in February and the Carencro, La. native has recorded 121 strikeouts, including a season-high 15 on April 15th against LeTourneau.

Taylor Surrento (8-3, 2.08 ERA) and Jordan Herring (8-1, 2.38 ERA) have combined for 16 victories and nine complete games in the circle. All three pitchers have earned NCCAA Pitcher of the Week honors this season.

Senior Dani Craft (.430) paces the Belhaven offensive attack, leading the way in batting average, triples (2), runs scored (41) and stolen bases (20). Junior Savannah Lyon (.419) is also hitting over .400 with a team-high nine doubles.

Carly Yasses (.381) leads the team in home runs (9) and RBI (35) this season. Broussard, Craft, Lyon and Yasses all earned NCCAA All-MidEast Region honors.

As a team, Belhaven is hitting .362 with 31 home runs and 65 doubles. They are averaging 6.2 runs per game while fielding at a .962 clip.

ALICE LLOYD
The Eagles are led by first-year head coach Nathan Hall, assisted by Kari Huber and Crilda Brown. ALC is an NAIA institution that is a member of the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

ALC is still looking for their first win of the season, going 0-34 in the regular year.

The Eagles have posted a team batting average of .268 with 75 runs scored, 29 doubles and six home runs. Their team ERA is 7.29 on the season and they have posted a .862 fielding percentage.

Megan Jones (.483) is the team's leading hitter with 43 hits, 21 runs scored, 10 doubles and two triples, leading the team in all categories. Mrogan Albury (.263), Lesley Robert (.304) and Elizibeth Prater (.229) have each hit two home runs on the season.

Albury (0-13, 5.29 ERA) is the team's leading pitcher, tossing a team-high 79.1 innings with 83 strikeouts. Roberts (0-11, 8.40 ERA) and Catherine Webb (0-7, 8.07 ERA) have also seen significant innings in the circle this season.