PENSACOLA, Fla. --- The Mississippi College softball team opened the NCAA South Regional with a 6-0 loss to Valdosta State University on Thursday afternoon at the UWF Softball Complex.

The Lady Choctaws (34-19) will now have to face Claflin University in an elimination game at 12:30 pm on Friday, with the winner playing again at 3:00 pm against the loser of the West Florida/Valdosta State game.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Blazers (38-17) started fast, loading the bases with no outs in the first inning and grabbing a 2-0 lead without MC coming to the plate.
- They would add a run on a wild pitch in the third and pushed the lead out to 5-0 with two more runs in the fourth with RBI from Lacey Crandall and Chelsea Canara.
- MC would not get their first hit of the day until the fourth when junior Katherine Lee singled to left field. Sophomore Kristen Qualls also singled in the inning, but the Lady Choctaws could not push a run across.
- VSU added their final run of the game in the seventh with a solo home run by Brandy Morgan to make the score 6-0.
 

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KEY STATS
- Freshman Carly Crawford and senior Lauren Mulligan joined Lee and Qualls with hits for MC.
- Sophomore Adrianna Morgan (9-6) took the loss for MC, coming out after just three batters in the first inning.
- Freshman Jordan Holifield pitched all seven innings in the circle for MC, giving up eight hits and four earned runs.
- Canara and Jessica Mohl led VSU with two hits, while Canara scored twice.
- Kasie Johnson (7-4) tossed the shutout for the Blazers, allowing just four hits with four strikeouts.
 

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NEXT UP
- The Lady Choctaws will face Claflin University, who fell to the hosts West Florida by a score a 5-2 in the first game of the day on Thursday. The Panthers are the automatic qualifier out of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 

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Mississippi College is a private Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. MC is recently finished their transition process back to NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference and will be competing for conference and national championships in the 2016-17 academic year.
 
The athletic department sponsors 17 intercollegiate athletic programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Football, Golf, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball.
 
For more information on Mississippi College athletics, please contact David Nichols at 601-925-3234 or nichols@mc.edu.