Entering the final week of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference baseball regular season, there is still plenty of movement possible for both Troy and South Alabama.

The Trojans (35-18 overall, 17-10 Sun Belt) fell to third in the conference standings after losing two of three at Texas State over the weekend. Troy is a game back of second-place Southern Miss (but loses the head-to-head tiebreaker), so a No. 3 overall finish seems most likely.

The series vs. the Bobcats was a wild one, at least on the final two days. The Trojans were shut out 6-0 on Friday before rallying for a 5-3 victory on Saturday, a day when catcher Brooks Bryan set the all-time program record with his 82nd RBI this season.

Sunday was an 11-inning marathon, with Texas State winning 8-6 on Chase Mora’s walk-off homer. Troy trailed 5-1 in that game before taking a 6-5 lead in the ninth, only to see the Bobcats tie in the bottom of the ninth and win it two innings later.

Troy is 1 ½ games ahead of fourth-place Appalachian State, and won two of three games from the Mountaineers earlier this season. The Trojans host fifth-place James Madison (15-12 in league play) for three games beginning Thursday at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy.

The top six seeds for the Sun Belt tournament get first-round byes, and won’t play until Wednesday, May 22, at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery. The most-likely spots for Troy at this point are 9 a.m. Wednesday (if the Trojans are the No. 3 seed) and 12:30 p.m. Wednesday (as the No. 2 seed).

Game times for Troy vs. James Madison are 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, then 3:33 p.m. Saturday.

1/20

• Louisiana is currently in first place at 21-6 in league play, and has already clinched the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament based on its head-to-head tiebreaker over Southern Miss (18-9). The Ragin’ Cajuns host South Alabama (29-22, 13-14) this weekend, and the postseason possibilities for the Jaguars remain volatile.

The Jaguars — who won two of three vs. Louisiana-Monroe over the weekend — are tied for seventh in the Sun Belt standings with Coastal Carolina and Old Dominion, but lose the tiebreaker with both. Thus, South Alabama is effectively in ninth place, a game ahead of both Texas State and Georgia State.

Only the Top 10 in the final Sun Belt standings make the conference tournament, so the Jaguars still have some work to do to earn a spot in Montgomery. At least one victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns would go a long way toward putting South Alabama in the tournament.

The Jaguars hold the tiebreaker over Texas State, but not Georgia State. The Bobcats travel to Southern Miss this weekend, while the Panthers host Old Dominion.

Barring a sweep of Louisiana, South Alabama would at best be the seventh seed and thus would almost certainly play on the first day of the Sun Belt tournament (Tuesday, May 21) at either 3 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Any postseason berth would likely be a boost for the Jaguars, who missed the conference tournament last year for the first time since 1985.

Game times for South Alabama at Louisiana are set for 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. The Jaguars also play a mid-week game at Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. Tuesday.