OXFORD, Ala. | The University of Alabama in Huntsville baseball team opens play at the 2019 Gulf South Conference Championships on Friday at 4 p.m. as the fourth seed against fifth-seeded Montevallo at Choccolocco Park.
 
UAH ended the season fourth in the conference standings with a 16-12 mark in league play to give the Chargers an overall record of 26-19 in 2019 entering the GSC tournament.
 
The Chargers offense boasts a .292 team batting average in the 2019 campaign, as there are five lineup regulars batting above .300 led by First Team All-GSC honoree Nolan Ramsey with a .371 average to go along with a team-high .552 slugging percentage.
 
Ramsey is followed by fellow All-GSC selection Tyler McCown – a Second Team honoree – who posted a .336 batting average in the regular season with a roster-best 39 runs and 17 stolen bases. Drake Hollingsworth (.336), Malave Bettinger (.318) and Palmer Ford (.313) round out the Chargers hitting .300 or higher.
 
On the mound, Tyler Self leads the weekend rotation with a 3.98 ERA over a team-high 74.2 innings pitched, as the right-hander has tossed 64 strikeouts compared to 25 walks in his sophomore season. Both Dylan Murphy (4.94 ERA/51.0 IP) and Harper Case (3.60 ERA/50.0 IP) join Self as the Chargers weekend staff for the majority of the GSC schedule.
 
This will be UAH's 18th trip to the GSC tournament in program history and the ninth time under head coach Hunter Royer, who became the team's all-time wins leader earlier this season. UAH last won the GSC championship in the 2014 season, with the squad reaching the championship game on seven occasions all-time.
 
Montevallo – who just took two of three from UAH this past weekend to end the regular season – earned the fifth seed in the conference tournament with a 17-13 GSC record for a 22-26 overall record. The Falcons offense is led by Tyler Krabbe with 17 homers and 63 RBI, while the UM pitching staff is buoyed by Chrit Rudkin with a 3.43 ERA over 86.2 innings.
 
Friday will be the first-ever meeting between UAH and Montevallo in the GSC tournament.
 
The winner of Friday's 4 p.m. matchup will move on to a 7 p.m. meeting against the winner of No. 1 seed West Florida or No. 8 seed Shorter on Saturday, while the loser looks toward a 4 p.m. contest on Saturday against the loser of UWF and SU.