MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball team will host its final regular-season series this weekend when it takes on No. 3 Louisiana-Lafayette in a three-game Sun Belt Conference set at Stanky Field.

The series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, followed by game two Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The series will conclude with the finale which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

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

USA left-hander Locke St. John (6-1) will make his 13th start of the season in the series opener. St. John tossed his first career complete game in last weekend's series opener at Georgia State. He will square off with ULL right-hander Austin Robichaux (6-2). Jaguar right-hander Kevin Hill (3-5) will start Saturday's contest, while the Cajuns will counter with right-hander Carson Baranik (9-1). Hunter Soleymani (0-2) will start Sunday's finale for USA, while Cody Boutte (6-0) is scheduled to start for ULL.

South Alabama (21-26, 10-13 SBC) enters the weekend 4-6 in its last 10 games after defeating Alabama State last Wednesday in Montgomery, Ala., and falling in two of three games at Georgia State last weekend. The Jags enter the series hitting .249 as a team, while the USA pitching staff carries a 4.26 team ERA into the weekend. South Alabama has recorded 10 or more hits in six of its last seven contests, and is hitting .307 with 17 doubles, four home runs and 49 RBI during that span.

ULL (43-7, 20-4 SBC) enters the weekend ranked third in four major national polls, and sits atop the SBC standings. The Cajuns lead the league in eight offensive categories:  batting average (.318), slugging percentage (.507), on-base percentage (.411), runs scored (395), hits (541), RBI (359), doubles (114) and triples (24). ULL also leads the conference in sacrifice bunts (52) and sacrifice flies (36). The Cajun pitching staff leads the SBC in ERA (3.44), opposing batting average (.239), innings pitched (445.1), saves (19), hits allowed (391) and runs allowed (188). ULL also leads the Sun Belt with a .979 fielding percentage entering the weekend.

Jace Conrad leads the conference in batting average (.372), while Caleb Adams leads the league in slugging percentage (.710), on-base percentage (.500), runs scored (51) and triples (6). Boutte ranks second in the SBC in ERA (2.62), while Baranik is tied for first in opposing batting average (.221) and is second in innings pitched (80.1).

South Alabama holds a 58-38 all-time lead over Louisiana-Lafayette in a series that dates back to 1975. The Cajuns have won three straight contests against the Jags after taking two games in last year's SBC Tournament and defeating USA in last season's series finale. The Jaguars are 32-11 all-time in Mobile against ULL, and 27-11 at Stanky Field.

USA will honor its three seniors as part of Senior Day in a pre-game ceremony prior to Sunday's contest. Matt Bell, Dillon Buhrkuhl and Brandon Hallford – all three right-handed pitchers – will play in their final regular-season contest at Stanky Field.

As part of Military Appreciation weekend, the Jags will wear their traditional camo jerseys on both Friday night and Sunday afternoon. All active and retired military with proper I.D. are eligible to receive two complimentary admissions to each game of the series by showing the I.D. at the ticket booths. Additional tickets needed by these servicemen/women will only be $3.00. Friday's series opener will a feature post-game fireworks show.

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