MOBILE, Ala. — No. 18 South Alabama opens a three-game Sun Belt Conference baseball series against Troy on Thursday night at Eddie Stanky Field with the regular-season conference championship at stake, while the Jaguars softball team prepares to host its first NCAA Regional at Jaguar Field beginning Friday.
Baseball: Title on the Line Against Troy
The series closes the regular season and will decide the Sun Belt regular-season champion. South Alabama is 39-14 overall and 19-8 in conference play, one game ahead of Troy, which is 37-15 and 18-9 in the league.
The Jaguars need to win at least two of the three games to clinch the regular-season title, which would be the program’s 14th Sun Belt championship, and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference tournament.
South Alabama has won its last six conference series and seven of its last eight games, and is 22-6 at home. The Jaguars are ranked 18th by both Baseball America and Perfect Game and have an RPI of 14. They are also seeking to host an NCAA Regional at Eddie Stanky Field.
All three games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.
Pitching Matchups
- Thursday: James Traylor (5-3, 3.93 ERA)
- Friday: Matt Bell (6-0, 2.87 ERA)
- Saturday: To be announced
Troy has not announced its starting pitchers for the series.
Softball: First NCAA Regional at Jaguar Field
South Alabama will host an NCAA softball regional for the first time. The double-elimination regional opens Friday with Mississippi State facing Florida State in the first game. South Alabama plays Mississippi Valley State in the second game at 6 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule includes three games:
- Friday’s two winners meet in the first game.
- Friday’s two losers play an elimination game.
- The loser of the winners’ bracket game faces the winner of the elimination game.
The remaining two teams play Sunday, with a second game Sunday if necessary. The regional champion advances to a super regional against the winner of the Austin Regional, which includes No. 4 Texas, Houston, South Carolina and Army.
All games in the regional will be televised on ESPN3.
