This Week in Sun Belt Baseball

The standings are tight in the Sun Belt Conference, and with just three (or in some cases, two) conference series remaining, not much is settled.  Some of the leaders still have to play each other and much can (and probably will) happen.

Here's a look at the league schedule for the weekend (The series between Louisiana (28-15, 13-7 Sun Belt, 4-4 road) and Appalachian State (13-31, 5-18, 3-8 home) will be covered tomorrow.

ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK (14-25, 10-10, 3-6 Road) AT UT ARLINGTON (17-25, 8-13, 4-5 Home)

OVERALL STATISTICAL RANKINGS:  UALR:  Batting 10th, Pitching 11th, Defense 1st.  UTA  Hitting 9th, Pitching 7th, Defense 4th.

CONFERENCE:  UALR:  Batting 3rd, Pitching 9th, Defense 1st.  UTA:  Batting 10th, Pitching 6th, Defense 6th

NATIONAL RANKINGS:  UALR is 28th in fielding percentage.

LAST TEN GAMES:  UALR 3-7. UTA 3-7

The Trojans had last week off from conference play.  Their 10-10 record has them currently in sixth place in the league and .500 this late in the year is a high water mark for the program.  Tanner Rockwell is one of the league's hottest hitters and Ryan Scott's 17 doubles are good for 19th in the nation.  It will be up to UALR's pitching staff to take care of  UTA club that has struggled to score runs.  The Mavericks are now on the outside looking in as far as the tournament is concerned and they need to take care of their business at home if they're going to be in Troy.  UALR's schedule is favorable and they can virtually lock up a tournament berth with a series win.

SOUTH ALABAMA (29-16, 14-7, 5-4 Road) AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN (27-18, 16-8, 9-3 Home)

OVERALL STATISTICAL RANKINGS:  USA Batting 1st, Pitching 1st, Fielding 2nd  GS:  Batting 5th, Pitching 4th, Fielding 11th

CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS:  USA: Batting 1st, Pitching 2nd, Fielding 3rd  GS:  Batting 6th, Pitching 1st, Fielding 11th

LAST 10 GAMES:  USA 6-4, GS 7-3

South Alabama's pitching staff was stellar last weekend against league-leading Georgia State, holding the Panthers to three runs (all solo homers) on ten hits.  Domination was the name of the game in all facets.  Their pitching staff is eleventh in the country in shutouts.  Adam Ballew is among the nation's toughest to strike out.  Georgia Southern stumbled in their finale against ULM.  Aaron Mizell is 13th in the country in homers and 16th in total bases.  With a bye week next week and three at Georgia State to close it out, this week is critical for the Eagles at home.  The Friday night matchup between the league's two top pitchers, Evan Challenger (7th in the country in ERA) and Kevin Smith (1 hit, 15K vs. Georgia State) could be one for the ages.  Both teams need this series, but GS moreso because they're at home, where they've been very good in league play.

TEXAS STATE (18-25-1, 10-11 Sun Belt, 5-7 Road) AT GEORGIA STATE (25-18. 13-6, 6-3 Home

OVERALL STATISTICAL RANKINGS:  TX ST Batting 11th, Pitching 10th, Fielding 7th.  GSU:  Batting 3rd, Pitching 6th, Fielding 8th

CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS:  TX ST:  Batting 11th, Pitching 11th, Fielding 4th  GSU:  Batting 4th, Pitching 3rd, Fielding 8th

LAST 10 GAMES:  TX ST 2-8, GSU 7-3

Texas State at one time was 8-4 in the league.  Now they sit in 7th place and moving totally in the wrong direction.  The good news is, they play their final six conference games at home.  The league leaders, meanwhile, got a real dose of humble pie in Mobile last weekend.  They hit three solo homers (Matt Rose is first in the nation with 14), but they didn't pitch well in addition to not hitting.  The Panthers still control their own destiny for the regular season title, but with a tough road trip to Troy and a series against second place Georgia Southern, it would behoove the Panthers to take care of their business this weekend.  Even one hiccup would not be a good thing.

TROY (25-20, 13-8 Sun Belt, 4-5 Road) AT UL MONROE (21-23, 8-13, 5-4 Home)

OVERALL STATISTICAL RANKINGS:  Troy:  Batting 7th, Pitching 8th, Fielding 5th  ULM:  Batting 4th, Pitching 3rd, Defense 9th.

CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS:  Troy:  Batting 5th, Pitching 10th, Fielding 7th  ULM:  Batting 8th, Pitching 7th, Fielding 9th

LAST TEN:  Troy 8-2, ULM 4-6

Troy has won eight of its last nine conference games and after an 0-3 start to the league, they stand just one game out of third place.  They've been really good at home and now they have to show they can get it done away from home as well.  Troy is 29th in the nation in stolen bases and ninth in double plays turned.  ULM has moved itself in position to make the conference tournament, but they close at UALR, who has played well at home before hosting Louisiana.  This is almost a must series win for the Warhawks, who have hit well at home and have a very good gap hitting team (24th in the nation in doubles).  The Troy pitching staff here could be the key.  They've done a very good job the last three weekends.

Arkansas State is at Kansas State this weekend in non conference action.