LSU Eunice Baseball will begin its postseason on the Cajun Prairie as the Bengals host the 2023 NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament from May 15-19. LSUE (49-3) will play in first round action against Northeast Mississippi CC on Monday, May 15 at 3:30PM at Bengal Stadium.
The winner of the six-team double elimination tournament will earn an automatic berth into the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series as the Gulf District representative.
“This is always an exciting time of the year, and we are thrilled to showcase our institution and community by hosting the Region 23 Tournament,” LSU Eunice Baseball head coach Jeff Willis said. “The six teams that will be here are some of the best junior college teams in the country, so it will be a highly competitive and entertaining week of baseball.”
LSU Eunice serves as the number one seed after one of its winningest seasons in school history. Their 49 regular season victories are the second most in program history as the Bengals have an opportunity to eclipse the 50-win plateau for the 12th time under recently named NJCAA Hall of Fame head coach Jeff Willis, now in his 21st season as the Bengals’ skipper.
The Bengals raced out of the gates in 2023, using a 39-game win streak to start the season. That tear set records for best start and longest win streak in LSUE Baseball history. LSUE has been able to win thanks to a balanced approach as their offensive and pitching numbers are near the top of the national NJCAA rankings. The LSUE offense is ranked Top 30 in virtually every category while standing out in runs (519 – 5th), walks (377 – 1st), on base percentage (.475 – 4th) and stolen bases (146 – 9th). The Bengals’ pitching staff, meanwhile, boasts the best batting average against (.219), fourth in earned run average (2.92) and rated fourth in shutouts (8).
The LSUE offense is led by the sophomore trio of Korey Cooper, Zachary Thomas and Parker Coley. The meat of the Bengals’ lineup has combined for 150 RBIs and 21 home runs while all posting a batting average over .360.
The pitching has been led by a dominant quartet of starters as Patrick Vienne, Aiden Vosburg, Connor Benge and Parker Webb figure to play prominent roles in the postseason. Benge leads the group in wins (10) and strikeouts (75). Top reliever Jacob Moore has the team’s best earned run average (1.44) while tallying five saves on the season.
Northeast Mississippi CC advanced to the Region 23 Tournament after a weekend sweep of Jones College in their best-of-three MACCC playoffs last weekend. The Tigers (33-19, 18-10 MACCC) are one of the hotter teams in the Magnolia State, having won 12 of their last 16 contests. NEMCC is led offensively by Mississippi State commit Jackson Owen, currently tops on the team in home runs (11) and runs batted in (54). Matthew Bullard is the top NEMCC arm, posting a 9-0 record with a 4.71 earned run average.
In addition to Northeast Mississippi CC, LSU Eunice also welcomes MACCC Regular Season Champion East Central CC (33-16, 23-5 MACCC), Meridian CC (38-10, 22-6 MACCC), Pearl River CC (43-11, 20-8 MACCC), and Itawamba CC (35-11, 20-8 MACCC) to the Cajun Prairie. Meridian and Pearl River will open the tournament with their 12:00PM first round matchup, while East Central and Itawamba meet in the 7:00PM nightcap.
The action culminates with the Thursday, May 18 Championship Game at 3:00PM. An “if necessary” game will follow on Friday, May 19, also at 3:00PM. Fans can find the latest news and information on the Region 23 Tournament by visiting LSUEBengals.net/Region23. All tournament games will be broadcast on the LSUE Digital Network which can be downloaded and viewed for free on any iOS or android device, tablet, or streaming device.
Press Release by LSUE Athletics