The Alabama State baseball team will open a six-game week-long road trip Tuesday at South Alabama.

The Hornets (2-1) and Jaguars (1-2) will play at 6:30 p.m. at Stanky Field in Mobile. There will be a live internet radio broadcast for this and all baseball games this week on bamastatesports.com.

Alabama State is coming off a series win over Eastern Kentucky, combining to score 19 runs and 27 hits in the final two games, both Hornet victories.

"I was very impressed with our team's ability to overcome a bad start on Friday (stranding 12 runners in an 8-2 loss) and play well on Saturday and Sunday," head coach Mervyl Melendez said. "I thought we played solid defense minus a few  careless errors Sunday. Overall, our offensive execution was phenomenal."

Including Tuesday's game at South Alabama, the Hornets will play at Auburn Wednesday in a 3 p.m. game before traveling to California to take on the University of the Pacific in a four-game weekend series.

"Our team needs to get use to playing on the road, as a lot of important games this season will be away from home," Melendez said. "Every team we play this week has potential to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. Therefore, we must be ready to play well."

The Jaguars, who earned a share of the Sun Belt Conference Championship last season, are one of five 2013 NCAA Tournament teams Alabama State will face this season. South Alabama, which earned an at-large berth to the field of 64 last season, lost two of three games at home to Tennessee Tech to begin the season.

"It's a great opportunity to see where we are as a program," Melendez said. "Facing one of the better teams in the nation and a well-coached team will be a good measuring stick for us."

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