MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball team will open the 2016 season this weekend when it hosts Evansville in a three-game series at Stanky Field.

The series will open at 6:30 p.m. Friday, followed by game two Saturday at 2 p.m. The series finale is scheduled for a noon first pitch on Sunday.

USA right-hander Kevin Hill, the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year, will get the start for the Jaguars in the season opener. Hill earned All-America honors from three different organizations last season – Collegiate Baseball (2nd team), American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings (3rd team) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (3rd team) – and was named the 2015 SBC Pitcher of the Year after finishing 10-0 with a 1.73 ERA. He led the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts (107), runs allowed (20) and opposing batting average (.208), while tossing four complete games along with two shutouts. The Oklahoma City, Okla., native was recently named to the 2016 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, and enters the season ranked 12th in career strikeouts (200) at South Alabama.

Jaguar southpaw Thomas Huston will make his first career start in game two of the series. Huston was a second-team all-Panhandle Conference selection last season as a sophomore at Pensacola State (Fla.) JC where he went 7-3 with a 3.53 ERA in 13 appearances, and recorded 70 strikeouts against 33 walks in 74 innings pitched.

USA senior right-hander Austin Bembnowski will get the start in the series finale. Bembnowski went 3-3 with a 3.29 ERA in 16 apperances last season, 10 of which were starts, and recorded 50 strikeouts while issuing 22 walks in 65 2/3 innings. He tossed five innings and allowed just one run on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk in game two of last year's series with the Purple Aces, but did not factor in the decision

Evansville will send a trio of right-handers to the mound in the series. Connor Strain, a senior, will get the start in the season opener for the Purple Aces. He earned the win in the series finale last season in Evansville, Ind., after allowing five runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Patrick Schneiders, a junior, will start game two for EU. Schneiders took the loss in last year's series opener between the schools, after allowing six runs on nine hits in six innings. The Purple Aces will send freshman right-hander Brandon Gomer to the mound in the series finale in his first career start.

USA returns six position starters from last year's SBC championship team, including center fielder Cole Billingsley – a 2015 ABCA/Rawlings Division I Gold Glove Award winner and first-team all-SBC selection – who was voted as the 2016 SBC Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year, as well as Danny Martinez who was also named preseason all-SBC.

All three games of the series will be broadcast live on WNTM 710 AM in Mobile, and also available on the iHeartRadio app. Each game will also be streamed live and available for purchase through JagNationTV.com. Live stats will be available at USAJaguars.com, and in-game updates provided at Twitter.com/SouthALBaseball.

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).