East Central Community College sluggers Donnie Tabb and Vincent Kortbawi had three hits each and southpaw Colton Mitchell shut down the LSU-Eunice offense over the final three innings to help lead the Diamond Warriors to a 13-10 victory in first-round competition of the NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament hosted by Hinds Community College in Raymond.

East Central, the No. 3 seed and MACJC State Tournament runners-up, improved to 39-17 under fourth-year head coach Neal Holliman and the No. 2 Bengals dropped to 43-12.

The Diamond Warriors were scheduled to play at 3 p.m. today against the Hinds/Pearl River winner, but inclement weather moved the second-round battle to 2 p.m. Saturday, either at Smith-Wills Stadium or Hinds’ Joe G. Moss Field. The first-round matchup between the state champion and top-seeded Eagles and No. 4 seed Wildcats was postponed last night due to the weather and will be played today. The loser will meet LSU-Eunice in an elimination contest later tonight.

Tabb, a centerfielder and Neshoba Central product, went three-for-six at the plate with a double and two singles. He also had two RBIs and scored twice.

 Third-baseman Kortbawi, a product of Hale County High School in Moundville, Ala., collected three singles, knocked in a run and also scored.

Also having productive performances at the plate were Andre Yates of Grenada, and Quin Stokes and Charles Hill, both of Carthage, two singles each. Richie Long of Carthage, Blake Lawson of Biloxi and Ernie Triplett of Louisville had singles each. Long was also the top run producer with three RBIs.

Right-hander Barry Meeks was the starter and allowed three earned runs on nine hits through 3 1/3 innings. He fanned two batters and walked two. Meeks is a product of Patrician Academy in Sweetwater, Ala. Mitchell (8-4) hurled the final 5 2/3 innings in relief, allowing just three hits and no earned runs. He also fanned four batters and walked five.