Southern is in an unaccustomed position — running fourth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division baseball standings — but the Jaguars have a chance to improve their position this weekend with a three-game series at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The teams play at the Torii Hunter Baseball Complex at 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Southern (13-22, 8-7 SWAC) is coming off three consecutive losses, two to division leader Grambling (14-4), followed by Prairie View (12-5) and Texas Southern (10-6). The Jaguars are facing the fifth-place Golden Lions (12-26, 4-14) with a chance to make up ground.
The struggling Southern pitching staff will go against a UAPB team with the worst batting average in the conference at .245. The Lions are tied with Alcorn State for the fewest home runs in the SWAC with nine. The Lions’ pitching staff has a 7.94 team ERA and opponents are batting .311.
UAPB is led by designated hitter Jakobi Jackson with a .373 batting average and one homer with 17 RBIs. Catcher Brad Mican is batting .297 with 20 RBIs.
The Lions’ top two starters are both senior right-handers. Brandon Little has a 3-6 record and a 6.67 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 55 innings while Jacob Riordan is 2-3 with a 7.53 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 68 innings.
Southern dropped a 10-5 nonconference decision at UL on Tuesday. Outfielder JJ Rollon had a two-run double and Caleb Tart two hits, including a two-run single. Jacoby Radcliffe and Jalon Mack also had two hits each.
Starter Anthony Fidanza allowed nine runs in 2⅓ innings, but relievers Jerry Burkett, Ranard Grace, Caleb Washington and Perry Kyles each threw a scoreless inning.
Jaylen Armstrong leads Southern with a .331 batting average while O’Neill Burgos leads the team with six homers and 37 RBIs.
Southern starters Nick Wilson and Antoine Harris are coming off of strong starts against Grambling. Wilson, who was named SWAC pitcher of the week, allowed three hits and one run in seven innings with 13 strikeouts. Harris pitched 5⅓ innings and allowed three runs in a 3-2 loss.
The Jaguars are hoping for a return to health for catcher Gustavo Nava Sanchez and shortstop Justin Wiley. Sanchez was hit on the right foot for the third time this season in the Grambling series and missed one game and part of another. Wiley is trying to play through a broken rib suffered against Texas Southern two weeks ago.
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