South Alabama baseball will look to ride the momentum of one its most-exciting victories in recent years into its Sun Belt Conference opener this weekend.

The Jaguars (12-5) host Georgia State (8-9) for three games in a series that will now feature a 1 p.m. opener on Friday and a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday due to expected bad weather late Friday and all day Sunday. South Alabama is coming off a thrilling 6-5 victory over Mississippi State Tuesday night in Biloxi, in which the Jaguars rallied from 5-0 down and scored the tying and winning runs in the ninth.

“We’ve played a good schedule,” South Alabama coach Mark Calvi said. “… We’ve faced some good arms this year against Nebraska and Mississippi State. We’ve got to clean up the strikeouts. We need some guys to swing the bat a little bit better and we need a couple more guys to pitch a little bit better and I’ll feel great.”

South Alabama also plans to switch up its pitching rotation somewhat this weekend, with right-hander Carson Swilling (2-1) set to start Friday and left-hander Cam Hill (2-1) on tap for Game 1 Saturday. Right-hander Mitchell Heer, working his way back from offseason elbow surgery, is expected to pitch in place Cade Carlson for the series finale.

Heer has been the Jaguars’ regular mid-week starter this season, but has thrown a total of only six innings as he’s eased back in. He worked a scoreless first inning as the first of 10 South Alabama pitchers in the victory over Mississippi State.

South Alabama lost two of three games at Nebraska last weekend, allowing a total of 25 runs Saturday and Sunday after winning the series opener 11-2 on Friday. The Jaguars have a team ERA of 4.68, still significantly down after last year’s team allowed nearly seven runs per game.

South Alabama is averaging more than six runs per game on offense, and has a team OPS of .796. Five players sport an OPS of at least .900 — left fielder Joseph Sullivan (.951), center fielder Will Turner (.946), first baseman Lucas Ismaili (.946), second baseman Brennan Holt (.924) and freshman right fielder Ethan Melton (.921), who had the game-winning two-run double vs. Mississippi State.

“I feel like we’re ready (for conference play),” Melton said. “We’ve got to fix a few things, but overall this team plays really well when we’re clicking on all cylinders. I think we’ve got a really good chance.”

South Alabama’s RPI is now at No. 32 nationally, having risen sharply after winning a game vs. Nebraska (No. 3 in the RPI) and beating Mississippi State. Georgia State checks in at No. 100, which is the middle of the pack in the Sun Belt.

The Panthers have lost three in a row, though they did play No. 20 South Carolina close on Tuesday before losing 4-3. Georgia State has hit 29 homers in 17 games, led by third baseman Will Mize and left fielder Ryan Dyal with six each and designated hitter Luke Boynton with five.