:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/881182/GYI0060906355.jpg)
With two weeks left before most conference tournaments start, there's a lot of baseball left to be played in Texas.
The series with the biggest implications this weekend will take place in Huntsville. Sam Houston will take on Southeastern Louisiana in a series that will decide the Southland Conference. SHSU has the upper hand with a first-place 20-7 conference record (32-15 overall), but the Lions' 17-10 conference record (good for second in the SLC) is close enough that a SELA sweep could cost the Bearkats the title. SHSU hasn't won a conference title since 1989 (23 years for those of you who, like me, can't math), so needless to say, this is weekend is huge. If the Bearkats win one, as they should, they are conference champs.
Texas A&M (34-14, 13-8 Big 12) hosts non conference San Diego State (22-27) in College Station. The Aggies enter the weekend ranked tenth by Baseball America and tied for second in the Big 12 at 13-8 with Texas and Oklahoma State. OSU and Texas are also playing outside of the conference this weekend, so Aggieland will have to wait until next weekend's series in Stillwater for the standings to shake out. This weekend A&M should easily sweep the over-matched Fightin' Tony Gwynns even if they're looking ahead to next weekend.
Rice welcomes the UAB Blazers to Houston in a big weekend for the Owls. This is the last weekend of regular season play for C-USA, and the Owls are currently tied for first with Central Florida. Rice (33-13, 13-5 C-USA) is ranked fifth by Baseball America and shouldn't have much trouble with UAB (27-23, 7-11). The bad news, however, is that UCF gets to play league-worst Marshall (And we're talking 3-15 in conference play worst. They are not good.), so Rice has to enter the weekend with "Sweep or Die" on their minds.
Houston will play Tulane this weekend to close out their C-USA season. The Cougars (16-28-1, 4-13-1) are in eighth place and face a Green Wave team (33-16, 10-8) that swept Southern Miss last weekend. The key for Houston this weekend is to win at least one game, since only the top eight teams (of nine) play in the conference tournament. It greatly helps that last-place Marshall is at UCF, but winning one this weekend would likely lock it up for the Cougars.
