Troy served notice it is a force to be reckoned with in the Sun Belt Conference baseball race this past week, pulling off a stunning sweep of nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C.

The Trojans won 8-6 on Friday and 11-4 on Saturday before run-ruling the Chanticleers 15-3 in seven innings on Sunday. Troy is now 31-14 overall and 14-7 in Sun Belt play, putting them in sole possession of second place in the league standings.

“Just a tremendous day. Tremendous weekend in totality,” Troy coach Skylar Meade said after Sunday’s series finale. “The guys came out with constant attacks, scoring in four of the seven innings played today. Add in (Grayson) Stewart’s competitiveness and his execution with pitches was really good. The defense was solid, and they made great reads throughout.

“We finished it off right. All parties offensively had a great day. If you didn’t get the hit, you took the walk or ran the bases well. It’ll be a fun bus ride back. The guys most certainly deserved it.”

Troy executed the sweep with timely home runs in all three games. Tremayne Cobb’s grand slam broke a 4-4 tie as part of a 5-run seventh inning on Friday.

On Saturday, Brooks Bryan’s 3-run blast sparked a 4-run first inning in a game that the Trojans eventually led 9-0. And then on Sunday, Will Butcher’s 3-run shot in the fourth turned a close game into a rout (the Trojans later scored nine in the top of the sixth).

The sweep at Coastal Carolina (27-17, 11-10) gives Troy four straight conference series victories and a five-game winning streak overall heading into Tuesday night’s home game vs. Alabama State. But bigger stakes await this weekend, as first-place Louisiana comes to Riddle-Pace Field in Troy.

The No. 23 Ragin’ Cajuns (33-13, 17-4) hold a three-game lead over the Trojans, meaning Troy will need a sweep to tie for first. A series win would also give the Trojans the tiebreaker for the No. 1 Sun Belt tournament seed should Louisiana falter down the stretch.

Troy jumped to 47 in the college baseball RPI, making the Trojans a fringy candidate for an at-large bid to an NCAA regional. But should the Trojans continue to play as they have been lately, they will definitely give the NCAA selection committee something to think about.

• Though not as scorching as Troy, South Alabama continued to play its best baseball of the season by taking two of three from James Madison over the weekend at Stanky Field in Mobile.

The Jaguars won 7-4 on Friday and lost 10-3 on Saturday before winning a 10-7 slugfest on Sunday that included a dominant five-inning relief appearance from Gant Starling. South Alabama has now won three straight Sun Belt series to move to 25-18 overall and 10-11 in conference play.

“I felt as though today came down to how tough our guys were and how important winning is to them,” South Alabama coach Mark Calvi said on Sunday. “I told them three weeks ago that every game … we are playing it like it’s an elimination game.”

The Jaguars — who were 3-8 in the Sun Belt after a loss to Southern Miss on the first Saturday in April — are now tied for ninth with Georgia State in the conference standings (though the Panthers have the head-to-head tiebreaker). With three weeks left in conference play, only two games separate teams 3-thru-10 in the standings.

South Alabama plays at Appalachian State — which is 11-9-1 and in fifth place in the Sun Belt — this weekend, then hosts Louisiana-Monroe (currently in 12th at 7-14) before wrapping up the regular season with three games at Louisiana. If the Jaguars continue to play at their current level, they could potentially steal a Top 6 seed and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

The top 10 teams in the final regular-season standings advance to the Sun Belt tournament, which runs May 21-26 at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery.