MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama baseball team will travel to Athens, Ga., to compete in the Bulldog Invitational, hosted by Georgia, this weekend at Foley Field.

USA (4-0) will open with Georgia at 4 p.m. (CT) Friday afternoon, with right-hander Kevin Hill (1-0) set to square off against UGA right-hander Robert Tyler (1-0). Left-hander Thomas Huston (1-0) will make his second start of the season on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT) against Western Kentucky (2-1), while right-hander Austin Bembnowski (0-0) is scheduled to start Sunday's contest against Cincinnati (0-3) at 10 a.m. (CT) Sunday. Neither WKU nor UC has announced a starter for their respective games against USA.

South Alabama enters the weekend as the Sun Belt Conference leader in batting average (.324), slugging percentage (.468), on-base percentage (.423), runs scored (38), RBI (35), tied for first in home runs (3), second in total bases (65), and third in hits (45), doubles (9) and hit by pitch (7). The Jaguar pitching staff ranks second in the league in strikeouts (35), ERA (2.19) and earned runs allowed (9), tied for second for fewest runs allowed (12), fourth in walks allowed (13) and tied for fourth in fewest hits allowed (27). South Alabama has turned five doubles plays in four games, which enters the weekend tied for the most in the Sun Belt Conference. 

Kevin Hill leads the SBC in strikeouts (10), tied for the league lead in opposing batting average (.053) hits allowed (1) and ERA (0.00). Drew LaBounty enters the weekend as the Sun Belt leader in RBI (9) and sacrifice flies (2).First baseman Danny Martinez is tied for second in RBI (7). Freshman outfielder Brendan Donovan is tied for the league lead in hits (8), ranks second in runs scored (7) and fourth in on-base percentage (.556). Center fielder Cole Billingsley enters the weekend tied for the SBC lead in sacrifice bunts (2).

USA extended its winning streak to four games after a 4-3 win over Alabama State Wednesday at Stanky Field on a walk-off double from third baseman Ben Gann in the bottom of the 10th inning. ASU scored two runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game 3-3 before Gann hit an 0-1 pitch off the left field wall to score pinch-runner Adam Wolfe from second base with the game-winning run. Gann enters the weekend with a seven-game hitting streak after hitting safely in his last three games last year and each contest this season. Danny Martinez, Brendan Donovan and Carter Perkins have each hit safely in their first four games of the year.

South Alabama is 1-0 all-time against Georgia after defeating the Bulldogs 9-6 in Lake Charles, La., in 2003 as part of the Lake Area Classic. The Jags hold an 85-53 all-time series lead over former SBC member Western Kentucky, while Sunday's matchup with Cincinnati will mark the first meeting between the schools.

Friday's contest against Georgia will be broadcast live on the SEC Network+ and WatchESPN. All three games will also be broadcast live on WNTM 710 AM in Mobile, and can also be accessed via the iHeartRadio app. Live stats for every Jaguar baseball game are available through the multimedia section of USAJaguars.com, and in-game updates are provided through South Alabama Baseball Twitter (@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).