South Alabama baseball heads to Georgia State for 3-game series

South Alabama pitcher Tyler Carr (23) throws to a Louisiana-Monroe batter in Game 1 of a NCAA baseball doubleheader Saturday, March 17, 2018, at Stanky Field in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)

Coming off arguably its best performance of the season, the South Alabama baseball team is on the road this weekend for three games at Georgia State.

The Jaguars (12-9, 2-1 Sun Belt) dominated nationally ranked Southeastern Louisiana 6-1 in a non-conference game Tuesday at Stanky Field. USA got dominant pitching from Andy Arguelles and Zach Greene and big-time offensive performances from Travis Swaggerty, Dylan Hardy and Brendan Donovan.

"I think we finally played a complete game, so we've got a lot of momentum going into this weekend," said Swaggerty, who was 2-for-3 with a double and a two-run homer against SLU. "I think if we play with the same energy, the same intensity, we'll come out of there with some wins."

Game times at Georgia State are 5 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. The Panthers are 11-10 overall and 0-3 in Sun Belt play, having been swept in the opening weekend at Texas-Arlington.

Georgia State has actually lost six straight, including two mid-week defeat to Ole Miss and one against Georgia. Though the Panthers are toward the lower-middle of the pack in the Sun Belt in both runs scored (4.9 per game) and ERA (4.88), they have three quality right-handed starting pitchers in sophomore Hunter Gaddis (4-1, 1.60 ERA), junior Jake Rogers (3-1, 3.62) and senior Jordan Lee (2-0, 3.45).

South Alabama will send sophomore right-hander Chase Shell (2-2, 5.57) to the mound Friday against Gaddis, with senior righty Tyler Carr (2-2, 3.60) facing Rogers on Saturday. Lee starts for the Panthers on Sunday against a yet-to-be-determined pitcher who will chosen from a group includes senior left-hander Zach Melton and a trio of right-handers: sophomore Tyler Perez, true freshman JoJo Booker and redshirt freshman Noah Michael.

South Alabama got off to a 7-1 start and was ranked in the Top 15 nationally before hitting a lull that including six straight losses -- four Texas Tech, one to Auburn and another in the opener of a non-conference series at Louisiana-Lafayette. Taking their toll were season-ending injuries to lineup mainstays Drew LaBounty and Colton Thomas, along with slumps by Donovan and Wells Davis and an inability to find a consistent third weekend starting pitcher.

Since dropping the first game at ULL, the Jaguars have won five of seven, taking two of three from the Ragin' Cajuns and in the first Sun Belt series of the season vs. Louisiana-Monroe. USA coach Mark Calvi said the early tribulations will pay off for his team in the end.

"Our schedule's been really, really hard," Calvi said. "We've let a few get away from us. I'm learned more about our team being 12-9 than if we played a soft schedule and we were 18-3. There's some guys that have shown me some things in adverse conditions, and that helps you. The more you can learn about your team, the better moves you can, and the better you can put guys in position to be successful. ... We need a few guys to be better and a couple of pitchers to step up. We'll know more about this team in about a month."

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