The UNA baseball team will open the crucial three-game series against the No. 1 West Florida March 10 and 11 at 1 p.m. at home.

The team played the three-game series against West Alabama March 3 and 4, taking games 5-3 and 7-3 March 3, and 3-6 March 4. After the series, UNA is now 14-5 overall and 2-1 in Gulf South Conference competition. West Alabama fell to 8-10 and 1-2.

“West Florida is No. 2 in the conference, and they are a very talented team with very good pitching and defense,” said head coach Mike Keehn. “West Florida is a really good tester for us and a little challenging for us.”

West Florida is No. 1 in the College Baseball Newspaper National Ranking and its conference standings are 13-3 overall and 1-1 in Gulf South Conference competition. UNA is above West Florida in conference standing, and this upcoming game will have a big effect on the results in the GSC.

“We are going to have to play very well in all aspects of the game,” Keehn said. “Good defense, pitching and timely hitting will give us chances to be competitive with West Florida. The team may make fewer mistakes that have the chance to win the game. We are going to have to minimize the mistakes because they are going to capitalize on them.”

UNA and West Florida will be a match-up of top 30 teams, with UNA sitting at No. 29 according college baseball lineup.

UNA will host West Florida March 10 at 1 p.m. in a double-header at Mike Lane Field, and March 11—the final game of the three-game series—will be played at 1 p.m. at Mike Lane Field.

Can’t make it to the game? Follow @FlorAlaSports for live updates and stats throughout the games.