No. 9 Bulldogs head to Eunice for regional

PERKINSTON — It's a case of being flipped out of the frying pan and into the fire for Mississippi Gulf Coast's softball team.

The Bulldogs begin NJCAA Region 23 Tournament play Thursday, about a week after playing in a brutal MACCC Tournament. The field shifts from eight teams to six teams, but it isn't any easier because first-round opponent LSU Eunice is added to the brackets.

Now there will be five teams in the NJCAA top 15 in Eunice: No. 2 Jones, No. 5 Itawamba, No. 8 Copiah-Lincoln, No. 9 Gulf Coast, No. 15 LSU Eunice.

"I guess it's supposed to be more difficult because you're playing for a chance to go to the national tournament," Gulf Coast coach Kenneth Long said. "I think every team over there is going to be really good and we'll have to play our best to advance. This team can do it; there's no doubt."

Gulf Coast and LSU-E are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. as the third game of the day. Third-seed Itawamba opens the tournament by playing four-seed Copiah-Lincoln at noon, followed by top-seed Jones and sixth-seeded Northwest Mississippi at 3.

The Bulldogs and Bengals have already played twice over on what's called the Cajun Prairie. The teams met on Feb. 24, with Gulf Coast winning the first game 8-6 before getting run-ruled in the second.

They were the first games of the season for Long and his staff, which took over in midseason. 

"We'd played them really early when we'd been here three days," Long said. "We split with them, but I thought they hit really well over there. I think they fit in with most of our top teams over there. We'll have to play really well to beat them. We can beat anybody in the tournament if we play well."

The top two teams in the tournament will advance to the NJCAA Tournament. It starts May 25 in Oxford, Ala.

The six-team, double-elimination format can get convoluted depending on how many teams are left at two different points, but one thing that's isn't hard to figure out is how difficult it will be to earn a spot in Alabama.

"When you get in postseason, every team is good and everybody is trying to move up, so they're playing their best," Long said. "The competition is really good."

2021 NJCAA Region 23 Softball Tournament Central: https://athletics.lsue.edu/news/2021/5/8/2021softballregion23.aspx

NJCAA Region 23 Softball Tournament

May 13-16

Eunice, La.

Thursday, May 13

Game 1: (3) Itawamba vs. (4) Copiah-Lincoln, 12:00pm

Game 2: (1) Jones vs. (6) Northwest Mississippi, 3:00pm

Game 3: (2) LSU Eunice vs. (5) Gulf Coast, 6:00pm

Friday, May 14

Game 4: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 12:00pm

Game 5: Winner Game 2 vs. Loser Game 1, 3:00pm

Game 6: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3, 6:00pm

*Saturday, May 15

Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6, 12:00pm

Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 3:00pm

Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 6:00pm

**Sunday, May 16

Game 10/11: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12:00pm

(If-Necessary Game Would Be Sunday, 3:00pm)

*If Five Teams Remain After Game Six (Friday)

Saturday, May 15

Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 12:00pm

Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 3:00pm

Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 6:00pm

Sunday, May 16

Game 10/11: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12:00pm

(If-Necessary Game Would Be Sunday - 3:00pm)

**If Three Teams Remain After Game Nine (Friday's Action)

Sunday, May 16

Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, 12:00pm

Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 3:00pm

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