Gulf Coast opens postseason Thursday vs. EMCC
PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast will open play in the NJCAA Region 23 Softball Tournament on Thursday in Ellisville.
The seventh-seeded Bulldogs will play 10th-seeded East Mississippi at 5 p.m. in the play-in game. The winner will advance to Friday's 3 p.m. game to play host Jones.
Gulf Coast finished sixth in the MACCC standings. LSU Eunice enters the Region 23 Tournament as the third seed according to its Massey Rating, bumps the third-place team and all those below it down a spot. The Bengals will play six-seed Pearl River in the other opening round game Friday at 6 p.m.
East Mississippi earned the final spot in the playoffs by sweeping Southwest Mississippi in Scooba on Monday. Gulf Coast beat the Lions twice at EMCC last month.
The other Region 23 Championship features top-seed Copiah-Lincoln hosting fourth-seed Northeast Mississippi, fifth-seed Northwest Mississippi and the winner of a play-in game between eight-seed Itawamba and ninth-seed East Central.
The two Region 23 Championship winners receive automatic berths to the NJCAA championship, which starts May 20 in Oxford, Ala. They'll play a single Gulf District championship game on May 7.
NJCAA Region 23 Softball Championship
May 1-4
Ellisville
Thursday
No. 7 Gulf Coast vs. No. 10 East Mississippi, 5 p.m.
Friday
Game 1: No. 7 Gulf Coast/No. 10 East Mississippi winner vs. No 2 Jones, 3 p.m.
Game 2: No. 3 LSU Eunice vs. No. 6 Pearl River, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 4 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m.
Sunday
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 2 p.m.
Game 7: Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 5 p.m. (if necessary)
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.