BOONEVILLE, Miss. - For the second consecutive year, the Northeast Mississippi Community College softball program will play more games at home than ever before.
The Tigers will compete in 40 total contests at The Plex weather permitting, which includes three separate tournaments, during the upcoming 2024 campaign.
This new school record is a byproduct of the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) increasing the number of regular season dates to equal the national maximum of 30.
"We tried to beef up our schedule with some tradition-rich programs," said Northeast headman Jody Long. "The teams that come through here give our kids an opportunity to grow coming off what I consider a pretty successful fall."
Eighteen of the Tigers' initial 22 games during the month of February take place on the Booneville campus. The lone exceptions are a neutral site matchup with South Suburban (Ill.) College and a trip to Jackson State (Tenn.) Community College.
Northeast christens the new season with a four-game series against visiting Spoon River (Ill.) College from February 2-3. The Tigers will recognize their sophomore class that weekend.
The first tournament hosted by Northeast is the inaugural Coca-Cola Classic from February 9-10. The Tigers will face four different opponents, including first-time foe North Iowa Area Community College.
The TigerFest, which is one of the longest running events in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), spans five days over two weekends this year. It will feature institutions from the states of Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
The David Carnell Challenge, which bears the name of the late head coach of the Tigers that resurrected the softball team in 1993, presents Northeast with two quality tests before the start of its conference slate.
The Tigers welcome Des Moines Area (Iowa) Community College and Jefferson (Mo.) College to the City of Hospitality for the first time this decade. The two Midwest programs combined to win 91 contests last spring.
The MACCC portion of Northeast's schedule begins on Saturday, March 9 at Pearl River Community College. Defending national champion Copiah-Lincoln Community College serves as the Tigers' conference home opener two weeks later.
Rivals Itawamba Community College and Northwest Mississippi Community College both come to town on March 26 and April 9, respectively. Northeast hosts 10 of its final 12 games going into the playoffs.