PERKINSTON – Mississippi Gulf Coast is making its first appearance in the MACJC baseball playoffs since 2013.

Bulldogs coach Rodney Batts sees a first-round playoff matchup at East Central as a good start, both short term and long term.

"Our ultimate goal here to win a national championship," he said. "Anytime you fall short of that, in my mind, it's a disappointing year.

"But it's a process. First step is getting in the playoffs. It means a lot to this program and these guys, and it means this program is going in the direction I want it to go. It kind of changes the attitude around here."

The sixth-place Bulldogs (25-19) face the Warriors (19-9) in a best-of-three series starting Friday at 6 p.m. Game 2 will be Saturday at 2 p.m., with a third game, if necessary, following 30 minutes following.

Winners of the four best-of-three series will feed into the MACJC Tournament, to be played at the highest-remaining seed's home field starting May 12.

Gulf Coast swept East Central during the regular season. The Bulldogs did so largely on the strength of their pitching staff, both starters and relievers.

Dylan Mills-Derouen threw a no-hitter, winning 2-0 in the second game. That came after Irby Dossett had pitched 5.1 innings of two-run in the opener.

Destin Aime and Brandon Kennedy shut out the Warriors the rest of the way as the offense picked up the winning run in the sixth of a 3-2 game.

The staff, under pitching coach Eric Ebers, finished with a 3.47 ERA in MACJC play, second best in the conference.

"Any team, your strength needs to be the pitching staff," Batts said. "It's a great testament to Coach Ebers and what he's done with these guys bringing them along. Pitching has been the strong suit the last two-thirds of the year. They're throwing as well as anybody in the state. They're the main reason we are where we are."

The long-term benefits of the season's results will be revealed on the recruiting trail, where prospects usually first ask how a school did the previous year.

And taking more steps can only help.

"Now we can say we're in the playoffs," Batts said. "Hopefully, after this weekend, we'll be able to say more than that."

MACJC playoffs

Higher seed hosts best-of-3 series

(Game 3, if necessary, 30 minutes after Game 2)

No. 1 Jones County vs. No. 8 Delta: Friday 6 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m.

No. 2 Meridian vs. No. 7 Itawamba: Friday 6 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m.

No. 3 East Central vs. No. 6 Gulf Coast: Friday 6 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m.

No. 4 Northwest vs. No. 5 Northwest: Friday 6 p.m., Saturday 2:30 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.