LAKELAND, Fla. — Delta State was ranked No. 1 in Division II for a good portion of the season, but Mississippi College took the state title on Tuesday.

Billy Cameron singled in the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning, and Mississippi College beat Delta State 7-4 in an elimination game at the NCAA Division II South Regional.

The Choctaws (36-16) beat their in-state rival for the third time in six meetings this season and advanced to play another elimination game against Tampa later Tuesday night.

This is the deepest Mississippi College has ever advanced in the Division II national tournament, and also the first time since 1981 it has won 35 games or more.

The Choctaws survived Tuesday after Delta State (42-11) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game on Zack Shannon’s two-run home run in the fifth inning.

The teams traded runs in the sixth and seventh innings to leave it tied at 4, and then Cameron’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh put the Choctaws ahead for good. Trey Pittman added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 7-4.

Delta State had beaten Montevallo 12-3 in another elimination game earlier Tuesday. Shannon and Brian Lane both hit grand slams, giving the team nine this season.

Shannon’s two home runs on the day gave him 31 for the season, as well as 92 RBIs. He’s the first player from a Mississippi college ever to hit 30 or more homers in a season, and his RBI total is a school record.