Big series abound on all levels for S.C. schools this weekend.
Several schools have one final chance to qualify for conference tournaments, while others are trying to nail down regular-season championships.
It appears the Friday night weather forecast isn't as bad as it was earlier this week, but there could be schedule changes from below. Coastal Carolina has already moved its Friday night home game with High Point to 4 p.m. Monday.
* Clemson opened a 13-game homestand with a rout of Georgia Tuesday night and the Tigers will need that home cookin' to continue against Georgia Tech this weekend. Clemson is in fifth place in the Atlantic Conference Conference's Atlantic Division. The Tigers can't dig completely out of their hole in one weekend, but they can't afford to miss a chance to take advantage of playing at home.
* Coastal Carolina, one of the hottest teams in the country, has a three-game lead over High Point in the Big South Conference entering their head-to-head meeting in Conway. The Chanticleers have won nine straight and 16 of their last 17. A series win would give Coastal a comfortable grip on first place entering the stretch run.
* While Coastal has been hot, the College of Charleston has been cold. The Cougars have five losses and a tie in their last six games. The College tries to turn things around with a Colonial Athletic Association home series against James Madison.
* After lackluster offense over the past few weeks, South Carolina showed some life in a midweek win over Furman. The Gamecocks play to Missouri this weekend. While the Tigers are tied for last place in the SEC East with Tennessee, they boast two of the league's top pro prospects in starting pitchers Tanner Houck and Reggie McClain.
* Erskine and North Greenville are tied for first place in Conference Carolinas with 20-4 records, They have a three-game series in Due West this weekend. A sweep by either would give the winner the undisputed regular-season title.
North Greenville is coming off a midweek win over Charleston Southern, which could be the Crusaders' first-ever baseball win over an NCAA Division I program.
Belmont-Abbey could tie for first if it sweeps Mount Olive. If the regular-season title comes down to head-to-head tiebreaker, Belmont Abbey won its season series with North Greenville and lost its series with Erskine.
* Coker and Newberry, among the five teams tied for third place in the South Atlantic Conference entering the final weekend of league play, square off in Hartsville. There's a mathematical possibility of a tie for second should either team sweep and Tusculum gets swept by Carson-Newman. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament, but teams 5-8 play a single-elimination game to advance to the six-team main draw.
Anderson has a chance to make the tournament, but would need a sweep at Lenoir-Rhyne and some help in other series to do so.
* USC Beaufort, which has wrapped up The Sun Conference regular-season title, steps out of conference this weekend to visit nationally top-ranked NAIA power Georgia Gwinnett. The Sand Sharks are No. 5 in the same coaches poll.
* More years than not, it seems Spartanburg Methodist finishes atop the NJCAA Region 10 standings. The Pioneers moved into first place with a series win over previous leader USC Sumter last weekend. The region schedule wraps up this weekend. SMC can clinch at least a tie for the title with with wins at Louisburg.
USC Lancaster and USC Sumter are a game back, while Pitt CC trails by two and Florence-Darlington Tech is three back. Any of the four could move into first with a series sweep and a series stumble by the Pioneers.
USC Sumter plays host to Guilford Tech, USC Lancaster and FD Tech meet in Florence and Pitt is at home against USC Salkehatchie.
* Furman has lost four of its top five offensive players to injuries. The Paladins faced the nation's top hitting team in UNC Greensboro and plays NCAA Division I's home run leader (Kyle Lewis, 15) with this weekend's Southern Conference trip to Mercer.
* The Citadel has lost its last six games and 12 of its last 13. Things get no easier this weekend when Southern Conference leader Western Carolina visits Riley Park in Charleston.
* Wofford looks to climb in the SoCon standings when it visits last-place VMI.
* Presbyterian and Winthrop have a chance to climb into the top half of the Big South Conference standings if they can win series at home against Liberty and at UNC Asheville, respectively.
* USC Aiken visits Flagler in Peach Belt Conference play needing a sweep to match Lander's 22-8 league record and have a chance to tie for the league title. Augusta and Columbus State have the chance to finish with better league records than Lander and USC Aiken.
* Francis Marion needs a good series at North Georgia to remain in contention for a spot in the Peach Belt Tournament.
* Benedict needs a series win over visiting Miles to solidify its chances of earning a spot in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. Claflin has an outside chance of getting the second seed in the SIAC East if it win a home series with Kentucky State.
* Voorhees has a series at Edward Waters, which leads the small school HBCU rankings by BlackCollegeNines.com
Friday, April 22
Liberty at Presbyterian, 3 p.m.
Western Carolina at The Citadel, 4 p.m.
Charleston Southern at Gardner-Webb, 6 p.m.
Furman at Mercer, 6 p.m.
James Madison at College of Charleston, 6 p.m.
King at Southern Wesleyan, 6 p.m.
USC Beaufort at Georgia Gwinnett, 6 p.m.
Wofford at VMI, 6 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Clemson, 6:30 p.m.
Missouri at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
USC Aiken at Flagler, 7 p.m.
Suspended
Georgia Tech at Clemson, to 4 p.m. Saturday
Postponed
Anderson at Lenoir-Rhyne, 1 p.m.. Sunday
High Point at Coastal Carolina, to 4 p.m. Monday
Limestone at Emmanuel, to 1 p.m. Sunday
Newberry at Coker, to 1 p.m. Sunday
North Greenville at Erskine, to 2:30 p.m. Monday
USC Aiken at Flagler, ppd. to part of 1 p.m. DH Saturday
USC Upstate at Stetson, ppd. to part of a 1 p.m. DH Saturday
Winthrop at UNC Asheville, ppd. to part of 1 p.m. DH Saturday
Saturday, April 23
Kentucky State at Claflin, DH, noon
Limestone at Emmanuel, DH, noon
Newberry at Coker, DH, noonNorth Greenville at Erskine, DH, noon
Anderson at Lenoir-Rhyne, DH, 1 p.m.
Georgia Southwestern at Francis Marion, DH, 1 p.m.
Guilford Tech at USC Sumter, DH, 1 p.m.
King at Southern Wesleyan, DH, 1 p.m.
Spartanburg Methodist at Louisburg, DH, 1 p.m.
USC Aiken at Flagler, DH, 1 p.m.
USC Beaufort at Georgia Gwinnett, DH, 1 p.m.
USC Salkehatchie at Pitt CC, DH, 1 p.m.
USC Upstate at Stetson, DH, 1 p.m.
Voorhees at Edward Waters, DH, 1 p.m.
Winthrop at UNC Asheville, DH, 1 p.m.
Charleston Southern at Gardner-Webb, 2 p.m.
Furman at Mercer, 2 p.m.
High Point at Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m.
Liberty at Presbyterian, 2 p.m.
Western Carolina at The Citadel, 2 p.m.
James Madison at College of Charleston, 2:30 p.m.
USC Lancaster at Florence-Darlington Tech, DH, 3 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Clemson, resumption of susp. game, plus scheduled game, 4 p.m.
Missouri at South Carolina, 4 p.m.
Wofford at VMI, 4 p.m.
Postponed
Miles at Benedict, DH, to 1 p.m. Sunday
Sunday, April 24
USC Salkehatchie at Pitt CC, DH, noon
Voorhees at Edward Waters, DH, noon
Anderson at Lenoir-Rhyne, 1 p.m.
Furman at Mercer, 1 p.m.
Georgia Southwestern at Francis Marion, 1 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Clemson, 1 p.m.
Guilford Tech at USC Sumter, DH, 1 p.m.
James Madison at College of Charleston, 1 p.m.
Kentucky State at Claflin, 1 p.m.
Liberty at Presbyterian, 1 p.m.
Limestone at Emmanuel, 1 p.m.
Miles at Benedict, DH, 1 p.m.
Newberry at Coker, 1 p.m.
Spartanburg Methodist at Louisburg, DH, 1 p.m.
USC Aiken at Flagler, 1 p.m.
USC Lancaster at Florence-Darlington Tech, DH, 1 p.m.
USC Upstate at Stetson, 1 p.m.
Western Carolina at The Citadel, 1 p.m.
Winthrop at UNC Asheville, 1 p.m.
Wofford at VMI, 1 p.m.
Missouri at South Carolina, 1:30 p.m.
Charleston Southern at Gardner-Webb, 2 p.m.
High Point at Coastal Carolina, 2 p.m.
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