EUNICE, La – LSU Eunice Baseball opens the 2024 Region 23 Baseball Tournament against Jones College on Monday, May 13 as the tournament field was announced on Tuesday. The Bengals (48-7) start the weeklong tournament with a 12:00PM first pitch from Dub Herring Park.
The Bengals join Jones, East Central, Meridian, Hinds and host Pearl River in the six-team double elimination tournament field. The loaded bracket features the top three teams in the most recent NJCAA Division II rankings and five squads in the Top 20. The winner of the bracket receives an automatic berth as the Gulf District representative in the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series in Enid, Oklahoma on May 25-June 1.
LSU Eunice has played in the last five Region 23 Championship games and has reached the final game of their region tournament in 15 of the 20 postseasons under NJCAA and ABCA Hall of Fame head coach Jeff Willis.
LSUE enters the postseason with a 48-7 record, tied for the 5th most regular season wins in a single season in Bengals history. This edition of LSUE Baseball has centered on a dominant pitching staff, featuring the top two pitchers in wins in NJCAA Division II.
Owen Schexnaydre (Houma, LA, Vandebilt Catholic HS) leads the nation with a 14-0 record, while
Blake Lobell (Holden, LA, Springfield HS) is right behind him sporting a 12-0 mark. Lobell is third nationally in strikeouts with 105 while
Alec Beversdorf (Seabrook, TX, Clear Falls HS) is fourth in the country with a 1.52 earned run average.
The entire pitching staff ranks first in earned run average (2.21), WHIP (1.09) and batting average against (.203).
Offensively, the Bengals are led by the sophomore duo of
Dawson Willis (Ruston, LA, Ruston HS) and
Collin Husser (Ponchatoula, LA, Ponchatoula HS). Willis ranks third in the nation in both runs scored (74) and walks (58) and checks in at seventh in stolen bases (43). Husser is tops on the team in doubles (17) and home runs (7).
Jones College is the four-seed in the Region 23 Tournament after defeating East Mississippi in three games during the MACCC Playoffs. The Bobcats posted a 39-14 record and went 19-9 in MACCC play. The Jones offense is led by Brady Thomas, a 6-foot-6 infielder who is tops on the team in batting average (.389), home runs (16), runs scored (65), RBIs (63) and hits (65). Beau Bryans is the Bobcats' top pitcher, coming into the postseason with a 6-1 record, 3.82 earned run average and 99 strikeouts.
LSU Eunice and Jones are no strangers to each other in postseason play having met seven times in Region 23 Tournament play since 2011. Their last meeting was in 2022, an 11-3 win by LSU Eunice in Poplarville.
Stay up to date with the latest news and information on the Region 23 Tournament by visiting www.lsuebengals.net or follow LSUE Baseball on all major social media platforms.
