MOBILE, Ala.  – The University of South Alabama baseball team will travel to Boca Raton, Fla., this weekend for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at No. 30 Florida Atlantic.

The series will kick off at 5:30 p.m. (CT) Friday, followed by game two on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CT). The series will conclude Sunday at noon (CT).

All three games will be broadcast on WNSP 105.5 FM in Mobile, and can be accessed nationwide at www.wnsp.com. Live stats for every South Alabama baseball game are available through the multimedia section at www.usajaguars.com. In-game updates will also be available at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports.

South Alabama (11-18, 6-3 SBC) dropped two of three games against Middle Tennessee last weekend at Stanky Field, which marked the Jags’ first SBC series loss of the season.

Phillip Byrd (3-0) will make his fifth start of the season in the series opener. Byrd tossed 6 2/3 innings and struck out seven to earn his third win of the season last Friday against MTSU. He enters the series with a 3.34 ERA and 32 strikeouts against just nine walks in 32 1/3 innings pitched this year.

Ryan Garton (5-2) will start the series opener for FAU. He carries a 2.20 ERA with 41 strikeouts and only nine walks in 45 innings pitched into Friday’s game.

Anthony Izzio (4-1) is scheduled to make his eighth start of the year in Saturday’s contest. Izzio enters the second game of the series with a 2.84 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings, while limiting the opposition to a .230 batting average. Jake Meiers (2-3) will start Saturday’s game for the Owls, and carries a 9.82 ERA in 22 innings pitched into the game.

Jarron Cito (2-3) will make his eight start of the season in the series finale on Sunday, and will square off with FAU’s Austin Gomber (3-1) who boasts a 2.35 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings this year.

Nick Zaharion leads the Jaguars in batting average (.346), hits (36), RBI (31), slugging percentage (.558) and on-base percentage (.433). Jordan Patterson leads USA with six home runs, 25 runs scored and 61 total bases.

Florida Atlantic (20-10, 8-1 SBC), ranked 30th in this week’s Coll.egiate Baseball poll, leads the Sun Belt Conference heading into the weekend and enters the series on a four-game winning streak after sweeping Louisiana-Lafayette last weekend and defeating Lynn Tuesday.

Second baseman Mike Albaladejo leads the Owls in batting average (.350), hits (41) and on-base percentage (.436). Corey Keller leads FAU in home runs (6), total bases (62) and slugging percentage (.564), while Mark Nelson and Kyle Newton share the team lead with 24 RBI.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).