Region 23 begins today at LSUE

The field is set for the NJCAA Divsion II Region 23 tournament.
And it could be the toughest region with the top two teams in the country.
No. 1 ranked Hinds Community College (41-5) will play East Mississippi Community College (29-16) at 3 p.m. today to open the regional.
No. 2 LSU Eunice (41-9) will face Northwest Comunity College (32-15) at 7 p.m.
Hinds defeated Northwest 14-3 to capture the 2015 MACJC title.
“This is the best field for a regional tournament that I have been a part of,” LSUE head coach Jeff Willis said. “There are four quality teams and any of them could win the tournament.”
Hinds finished as the national runners-up in 2014, falling to Mesa Community College (9-7) in an 11-inning battle.
“They have their entire team back except for a freshman who moved to Mississippi State, Willis said of the Eagles. “They have their entire pitching staff back as well.”
Hinds has been the top-ranked team in NJCAA Division II most of the season, except when the Bengals moved to the top of the polls for two weeks.
“The other teams coming over from Mississippi have beaten each other already this season,” Willis said. “With us in the mix and them, it will be a lot of fun.
“There are least 10 or 15 players heading to SEC schools in this tournament,” Willis said.
“This could be as good if not better than what will be at the World Series.”
The losers bracket games will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, followed by the winners’ bracket game at 7 p.m.
The championship game will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m. with the if necessary game set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The national tournament begins next Saturday at David Allen Memorial Park in Enid, Oklahoma.
The winner of the South Regional would play at noon on Sunday against the Southwest (Region 1) champion.
“When you get to playoff baseball, the teams that beat themselves are the teams that lose.
“You can’t walk guys or make errors,” he added. “You have to make the other team earn what they get.
“We need to go out and play the way we are capable of playing,” Willis said.
Last season, the Bengals lost to Hinds (10-9), beat East Central Community College (12-4) before being pushed out of the regional by Jones County Junior College (5-1).
“I think last year the guys just rolled in there, thinking they were the best team and the others would just roll over and it was just going to happen for them,” Willis said. “This year’s team is hungry to do better than they did last year.
“They know what is at stake,” the coach said. “But this group hates to lose more than any other team I have had here.”
In 2013, LSU Eunice rolled through the regionals before finishing as national runners-up after a 4-3 loss to Murray State College.
At LSU Eunice in 2012, the Bengals cruised through the regional tournament, including a 17-0 title win over Hinds Community College, and captured their fourth national championship with a 7-3 win over Western Oklahoma.
At Bengal Field in 2009, LSU Eunice defeated Holmes Community College 19-5 to advance to the World Series.