RAYMOND – For the eighth straight season, Hinds Community College baseball has clinched a spot in the postseason. The Eagles will host Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College starting Thursday in a three game, third game if necessary, series to claim a spot in the Region 23 tournament held at Pearl River Community College May 16-20.
 
At the end of the regular season, the Eagles are sitting at 26-16 overall, 19-9 in conference play and sit at fourth in the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.
 
Head coach Dan Rives is ready for his guys to compete at home.
 
"We have worked all year for an opportunity to compete in the postseason and it is now upon us, and our guys are excited to be playing at home," Rives said. "We know that Gulf Coast is a very good opponent, and we will have our work cut out for us."
 
Off the bat
 
- The play-in series starts Thursday, May 5 at 4 p.m. at Joe G. Moss Field. Game two will be on Friday, May 6 at 4 p.m. If necessary, game three will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 7.
- The Eagles are coming off a series split on the road at East Mississippi where they took game one 14-5 and fell 7-4 in game two.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a series sweep over Mississippi Delta in Perkinston.
- Both clubs feature a new skipper in Dan Rives and Bob Keller.
 
Home sweet home
 
The Eagles will be playing the Bulldogs in Raymond for a play-in series to the Region 23 tournament, which is the fifth time in eight seasons that Hinds will host in the first round of playoffs. The Eagles are 14-7 overall at home but boast an 11-3 record at home in conference play this season.
 
Kiss it goodbye
 
The Eagles are ranked thirteenth in the country in homeruns with 52. Exactly half of those homeruns have happened at home.
 
Run support
 
Hinds sits at fourth in runs scored in the conference with 314.
 
How sweep it is
 
Out of the seven conference series at home, the Eagles have swept four with sweeps over Itawamba, Meridian, Northwest and Coahoma. 
 
On the mound
 
This series will feature two pitchers who are tied at first in wins in the conference. Holland Townes (Ridgeland), of Hinds, and Luke Reed, of Gulf Coast, both sit at seven wins on the season. Both Townes and Reed also sit at 82 strikeouts on the season.
 
Not an easy out
 
Sophomore second basemen Vantrel Reed (Vicksburg) has only 10 strikeouts throughout the 42 games he has played in this season. Reed also boasts a .432 batting average and a .488 on-base percentage.
 
 
 
The winner of the series heads to Poplarville May 16-20 for the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament with a trip to Enid, Oklahoma on the line.