No such thing as an unimportant series

Now that basketball season is finally over, the focus can now fully shift to spring sports such as baseball. With just a handful of slots available for conference tournaments, there's no such things as a three-game series that can't be considered important. At least that's the case in terms of a team's hopes of advancing to that own aforementioned conference tournaments, and beyond. With that in mind, let's take a brief look at some select series to be played this weekend, weather permitting, that is.

Gulf South Conference

West Alabama at West Florida: The No. 11 (Collegiate Baseball) Tigers (23-9 overall) hope to stay unbeaten in GSC play against the Argonauts in a battle of the East Division's top two teams. UWF (25-15) holds second place in the division at 5-4 in conference play.

Alabama-Huntsville at Montevallo: After getting off to a fast start, the Chargers (18-8 overall) have struggled to 1-4 record in GSC East Division action, as they face a Falcons squad that's 3-6 in league games so far.

West Georgia at Valdosta State: The Blazers host the Wolves in this critical battle of Georgia rivals. VSU (25-13) is 2-4 in the GSC East, while UWG (10-20) comes in at 1-2.

Delta State at Henderson State: The No. 24 Statesmen (8-1 in GSC) hope to keep at least a share of first place in the West Division against the Reddies, who have struggled to 3-6 mark in league games despite an overall record of 25-10.

Arkansas Tech at Southern Arkansas: The fifth-ranked Muleriders (8-1) also will look to keep pace with the Statesmen against a Wonder Boys squad that sits just one game back of both teams at 7-2. That's despite the fact that ATU is only one game below .500 overall at 19-20.

Peach Belt Conference

With 10 teams vying for only eight spots in a two-day, single-elimination conference tournament, every series against a PBC opponent is critical in terms of who will stick around come May, and who won't. Let's quickly cut to the chase.

Francis Marion at GC&SU: The No. 8 Bobcats have already won one game in this three-game set, crushing the No. 23 Patriots 11-5 on Friday. The same two teams square off in a doubleheader later today. GC&SU currently is in its first place in the PBC with an 11-5 league record.

USC Aiken at Armstrong Atlantic State: After a sluggish start to the season, the Pirates have come on strong in recent weeks, fighting their way to a 6-6 mark in PBC action. They'll face a Pacers team that trails them by mere percentage points at 7-8.

Columbus State at Lander: The Cougars (18-13 overall) enter this weekend's critical series against the Bearcats in second place at 8-6. Speaking of the Bearcats, they're among the multiple teams jockeying for seeding position for the PBC tourney with a conference record of 6-7.

North Georgia at Augusta State: How's this series for being in the odd category? The Saints come into this series with an overall record of 19-18 (10-8 in the PBC). On the flip side, the Jaguars come in at 18-19 overall (6-6).

UNC Pembroke at Georgia Southwestern: The Hurricanes (14-22, 6-9) play host to the Braves (23-13, 4-10) in a critical PBC teams. With both squads sitting at the bottom of the league standings, neither team can afford a slip up if they hope to stay in contention for berths in the conference tournament.