The WKU Hilltopper Baseball team is set for their first road series and first road game of the season beginning Friday in Spartanburg, SC against the USC Upstate Spartans.

Both teams are off to a hot start with the Spartans holding a 7-1 record and the Hilltoppers sitting at 6-2. USC Upstate's lone loss on the season came back on February 16th to Long Island University.

The Hilltoppers and Spartans have a very fresh history in baseball meeting just once all-time. WKU came away with a 6-3 home victory way back in 1987.

Friday is set for the start of this weekend's series with action beginning at 3pm CT, followed by a 1pm CT start time for game two on Saturday. The series will conclude Sunday with the game set to start at noon CT.

USC Upstate began their season with a two out of three series victory over Long Island University and haven't looked back since. Since that opening series the Spartans have defeated Furman, Monmouth, Manhattan, Brown and Wofford scoring a combined 47 runs in that five game win streak.

To say the Spartans are hitting the ball well would be an understatement. Six USC Upstate players currently hold a batting average of over .333, with Junior utility man Mason Stewart leading the way with a .444 average.

Not only has this USC Upstate team been solid at the plate, but at the bump as well coming into Friday with a 1.65 team ERA. Spartan pitchers have fanned 78 batters in 71 innings of play proving this is the Tops toughest test yet of the young 2020 season.

Probable starting pitchers for Friday's matchup are junior ace Michael Darrell-Hicks making his third start on the season for WKU and junior RHP Jordan Marks making his third start of the season for the Spartans.

Friday's matchup could be a pitcher's duel with Hicks coming into the contest with a 1.93 ERA in nine innings pitched and Marks owning an outstanding 0.00 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched.

WKU will look to keep the hot bats going as they currently rank 25th in the nation and first in C-USA with 18 doubles on the season.

The heavyweight bout between the Hilltoppers and Spartans is set to begin Friday at 3pm CT at Harley Park. Listen to the series all weekend long on ESPN 102.7 FM or online at espnradio1027.com.