MOBILE, Ala. – The 24th-ranked and No. 2-seeded University of South Alabama baseball team will open the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament against UALR at 4 p.m. Wednesday at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field in Lafayette, La.

Jaguar right-hander Anthony Izzio (2-0, 4.76 ERA) will get the start in USA’s tournament opener against No. 7 UALR. Izzio has tossed 11 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings entering the tournament, and is 2-0 with nine strikeouts against one walk and six hits allowed during that span to limit the opposition to a .158 batting average. He will square off with second-team all-SBC selection Chance Cleveland (5-9, 3.39), who has struck out 88 batters against 28 walks in 98 innings pitched this season.

South Alabama swept a three-game series from UALR earlier this season at Stanky Field. The Jaguars are 2-1 in SBC Tournament games against UALR, after splitting a pair of games in the 2001 tournament. USA shut out UALR 8-0 in 2000, which marked the first time the schools met in the postseason.

South Alabama will be paired with UALR, sixth-seeded Florida International and No. 3 Louisiana at Lafayette in the tournament, while top-seeded Troy, fourth-seeded Florida Atlantic, No. 5 Western Kentucky and eighth-seeded Arkansas State will compete in the opposite side of the bracket.

The winner of the USA-UALR game will face the winner of the ULL-FIU matchup at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The losers from each of those contests will meet at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Jags took two of three games from No. 3 ULL and No. 6 FIU this season. USA won the first two games of its series at ULL, and took the first two contests against the Panthers at Stanky Field. The Jaguars are 6-5 all-time against FIU in the SBC Tournament, and 7-6 against the Ragin’ Cajuns in the conference tournament.

South Alabama (40-16, 20-10 SBC) boasts more SBC Tournament wins than any other current or former member, and is 78-50 all-time in the tournament.

Live streaming and live stats will be available for each game of the SBC Tournament at SunBeltSports.org, while each USA game will be broadcast live on WNSP 105.5 FM in Mobile and can be accessed nationwide at WNSP.com.

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