MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball team will host Louisiana-Monroe in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series this weekend at Stanky Field.

The series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday evening, with game two set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch Saturday. The series finale will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday.

All three games will be streamed live and available for purchase through the All-Access section of USAJaguars.com. Each game will also be broadcast live on WNSP 105.5 FM in Mobile, and can be accessed nationwide at WNSP.com. Live stats for every South Alabama baseball game are available through the multimedia section of USAJaguars.com, while in-game updates are provided at Twitter.com/SouthALBaseball.

USA left-hander Locke St. John (4-1) will make his 11th start of the season in the series opener, and will square off with ULM right-hander Payton Coddou (0-2) who will make just his third start of the year. Right-hander Kevin Hill (2-5) is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season in Saturday's contest, while Warhawk right-hander Chris Hunt (2-2) will make his 10th start of the year. Jaguar righty Hunter Soleymani (0-2) will get his fifth start of the season in the finale, while ULM right-hander Jared Dye (1-1) will make his fourth start of the season.

South Alabama (17-23, 7-10 SBC) will look to snap a three-game losing skid in Friday's series opener. USA defeated Western Kentucky in the series opener last weekend in Bowling Green, Ky., but dropped the final two games of the series before falling to Auburn 6-1 Tuesday in Auburn, Ala.

The Jaguars are 8-11 at Stanky Field this season, and have dropped three straight home games and seven of their last eight contests at Stanky Field dating back to the series opener against Texas-Arlington. South Alabama carries a .237 team batting average and 3.99 team ERA into the series.

South Alabama holds a 24-11 all-time lead over ULM in a series that dates back to 1979. The Jags have swept two straight series from the Warhawks, and have won eight consecutive regular-season contests. USA has won six consecutive series. ULM's last series win came in 2007, while its last win over USA came in the 2012 SBC Tournament in Bowling Green, Ky.

The Jags enter the weekend tied with Troy for sixth place in the SBC standings, while ULM sits in eighth. Louisiana-Monroe (17-26, 7-11 SBC) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Grambling State Wednesday in Monroe, La. ULM was swept by Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark., last weekend. The Warhawks are 2-17 in road games this season, and 2-7 on the road in Sun Belt play.

ULM enters the series with a .242 team batting average, while its 6.21 team ERA ranks last in the SBC. Keelin Rasch leads ULM in batting average (.285), hits (49) and total bases (72), while Dalton Herrington holds the team lead in RBI (28) and shares the lead in home runs (6).

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).
 

Game notes