East Mississippi to open NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament against top-ranked and MACJC champion Hinds

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College's 15^th-ranked Lions are set to open NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament action Thursday with a 3 p.m. contest against MACJC state champion Hinds Community College at Bengal Stadium on the LSU Eunice campus.   

Following last week's 1-2 showing at the Hinds-hosted MACJC State Baseball Tournament, head coach Chris Rose's EMCC Lions enter regional competition sporting a 29-16 overall record after sandwiching a 12-2 run-rule victory over 19^th-ranked Meridian Community College between 9-7 and 10-5 setbacks to No. 20 Northwest Mississippi Community College in Raymond.

East Mississippi completed the regular season as MACJC runners-up with a 20-8 conference mark behind nationally top-ranked Hinds.  The reigning NJCAA Division II World Series runners-up from a year ago, the Hinds Eagles are 41-5 overall this season as Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges champions during both regular season (23-5) and postseason tournament (3-0) play.  

Regional host LSU Eunice, ranked second nationally with a 41-9 record, and MACJC Tournament runners-up Northwest Mississippi (32-15) are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start on Thursday to complete opening-day action.  An initial losers' bracket game will be played Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. winners' bracket contest.  Another elimination game will take place Saturday at 3 p.m., prior to a 7 p.m. potential championship contest.  If needed, a seventh and deciding regional tournament game would be played Sunday at 1 p.m. to decide who advances to the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series to be played May 23-30 in Enid, Okla.

All games during this week's four-team, double-elimination NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament are slated to be live-streamed courtesy of LSU Eunice.  A tournament website (www.lsuebengals.net/region23) will also be available to provide information and updates throughout the week.