CARROLLTON, Ga. - Coming off a midweek loss to the Georgia State Panthers, West Georgia baseball hits the road to take on the Stetson Hatters in a three-game ASUN road series this weekend in DeLand, Florida. First pitch from Conrad Park is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, and all three games' live coverage links are tagged on the baseball schedule. 

UWG (5-16, 2-1 ASUN) looks to kick off conference play with back-to-back ASUN series wins, when they take on the Hatters (9-13, 1-2 ASUN) in their first league road series of the season.

Stetson swept the Wolves at Cole Field and then claimed a 2-1 series victory down in Florida last season to jump out to a 5-1 lead in all-time head-to-head.

Unlike UWG, the Hatters opened conference play this year falling in the first series, 2-1, to in-state rival North Florida. Despite the slow start, Stetson has proven throughout the season that they can beat some of the top teams in the country. Just two weekends ago, the Hatters split a four-game road series, 2-2, with the No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks. Two weekends before that, Stetson claimed a 6-5 walk-off win over Virginia, who now rank ninth in the country. 

These highlight victories have come on the back of solid pitching. 

Starting in a team-high four games across five appearances, the Wolves should expect to see junior righty James Hays starting on the mound this weekend. Through 23 frames, Hays posts a 3.91 ERA (ninth-best in the ASUN), a 2-0 record and a team-high 27 strikeouts. In his most recent appearance, Hays struck out a personal best nine North Florida Ospreys and allowed just two earned runs in a career-high 7.1 innings on the mound.

Another pitcher the Wolves will most likely face this weekend is junior righty Trace Hartman. Starting in two games through his six appearances, Hartman leads the Hatters and the ASUN with a 1.08 ERA while also posting 19 strikeouts and a 2-2 record. This ERA is the 19th best in the country. One of his strongest performances of the season was when he struck out three Razorbacks and allowed just one earned run in his 6.2 innings on the mound to secure a win over No. 6 Arkansas.

As a team, SU posts a 5.83 ERA. On the other hand, UWG posts an 8.95 team ERA. 

UWG is expected to pitch their same rotation as last weekend, sophomore righty Maverick Torres to start, senior righty Lex Kenny in game two and redshirt senior righty Luke Ridley to close out the series.

Appearing in eight games and making four starts, Torres has recorded a 6.27 ERA, 14 strikeouts and a 1-3 record. In his latest start, Torres earned his first win as a Wolf after pitching in a career-high six frames, recorded a personal best five strikeouts and gave up only two earned runs. 

Earning four starts in his six appearances, Kenny leads the Wolves and ranks fourth in the ASUN with a 2.79 ERA. Accumulating a team-high 29 innings pitched, Kenny has also totaled 13 strikeouts, posts a 2-1 record and has held opposing batters to a UWG-best .231 batting average. 

Expected to close out the series this weekend, Ridley has recorded a 1-0 record with 4.91 ERA and 14 strikeouts in his four starts. In his last start, Ridley struck out five batters and conceded two earned runs in his six frames on the mound. 

Moving to the batter's box, UWG has posted a .234 batting average, .316 on-base percentage and a .368 slugging percentage. SU has recorded a .259 average, .362 on-base percentage and a .366 slugging percentage.

Looking at the UWG starting lineup, two Wolves record a .300 or better batting average, outfielder Blake Bradford and third baseman Patrick McCullough.

In 49 at-bats, Bradford leads UWG with a .327 average while also recording a .469 slugging percentage and .358 on-base percentage. One of his strongest performances from this season came in his first start. Going against No. 7 Auburn, Bradford led the Wolves with a career-high three hits. He has since recorded one other multi-hit performance.

McCullough has recorded a .302 average while leading the team in hits (26), runs (17), doubles (four) and triples (two). He also leads the Wolves with eight multi-hit performances and he has strung together the longest hitting streak of the season for UWG (nine). Fueled by three multi-hit performances, McCullough led the Pack with eight hits and seven RBIs in the Wichita State series, resulting in the senior earning ASUN Player of the Week honors last week.

Currently, four Hatters in the starting lineup record a .300 or better batting average. Leading the way with a .353 average is redshirt junior Juan De La Cruz. In 68 at-bats, the second baseman leads Steson in hits (24), runs (21), stolen bases (12), on-base percentage (.511) and OPS (.967). De La Cruz's .511 on-base percentage not only leads the Hatters, but it is also currently the best in the ASUN. 

With the upcoming road trip marking just the second ASUN series of the season, both teams will be motivated to make an early statement in conference play.

First pitch from Melching Field at Conrad Park is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday. If you are unable to make the trip down to DeLand, Florida, the live coverage links for all three games are tagged on the baseball schedule.