EUNICE, La. – Three of the dominant programs in NJCAA Division II meet for a three-way weekend with Jones County and Murray State invading LSU Eunice starting Friday.  Each program has won a national championship since 2013.
 
The action starts with Jones County and Murray State meeting at 2:30PM Friday.  LSU Eunice takes on Jones County in a nightcap 30 minutes following the completion of the first game.  LSUE rounds out the weekend with Saturday and Sunday contests with Murray State scheduled for 1:00PM.
 
All LSU Eunice games can be seen on Bengal All-Access by logging onto www.lsuebengals.net.  Bayou Sports Network will also have an audio feed with Randy Guillory on the cal.
 
LSUE (17-3) comes home recently ranked No. 2 in the first regular season release of the NJCAA Top 20 poll.  The Bengals were preseason ranked 8^th.  They are also ranked 20^th in the most recent Perfect Game Top 25, compromising of all junior college leagues and divisions.
 
The Bengals took two-of-three in a three-team weekend on the campus of L.B. Wallace.  LSUE won its lone game against the Saints and split two games against Wallace State CC.  Mason Templet enjoyed his most productive weekend with the Bengals.  The sophomore collected five hits including his first collegiate home run.
 
Zach Hester will get the call on the mound for LSUE's game against Jones County.  The sophomore (4-0, 2.78) is back on the mound after missing last week attending to a family matter.  Freshmen Andrew Sheridan (4-0, 1.82) and Nathan Holmes (0-0, 6.00) get the starts against Murray State College.
 
LSUE has met Murray State for a weekend series every year since 2013 and faced off in the NJCAA National Championship game that season.  The Bengals have played Jones County in the postseason three of the last four years, but will meet in the regular season for the first time in more than a decade.
 
Murray State College is 11-6 on the season and comes off a weekend sweep of four-time Division III National Champion Tyler Junior College at home.  The Aggies were preseason ranked 10^th after reaching the NJCAA World Series a season ago.  MSC features four batters with double-digit run production led by sophomore catcher Jacob Padilla and his 20 RBIs.  Their 20 team home runs rank 6^th in NJCAA Division II.
 
Peyton Graham leads the Aggie pitching rotation with a 4-0 record and 2.42 earned run average.  The sophomore righty also has 36 strikeouts in 22.1 innings of work.
 
Jones County is the current top-ranked team according to this week's NJCAA Poll.  The Wildcats hold a 13-1 record and bring a five-game win streak to town including a pair of wins Wednesday against Baton Rouge CC.  Luther Woullard leads the JCJC offense with .439 batting average including three home runs, 19 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.
 
The pitching duo of Cooper Brune and Will Freeman pace the Wildcat staff.  Brune leads the team with a 1.86 earned run average while Freeman is the top strikeout arm with 28.  Both right handers sport a 3-0 record.
 
For more news and information, follow the baseball team's Twitter (@LSUEBengalsBSB), Facebook (@LSUEuniceBaseball) and Instagram (@LSUEBengals) accounts.