PENSACOLA, Fla. | The University of Alabama in Huntsville baseball team is set to open play at the 2021 NCAA Division II South Regional as the fifth seed on Thursday with a 3 p.m. matchup against second-seeded Lee on the campus of West Florida.
 
The winner of Thursday's matchup between UAH and LU will move on to play on Friday at 7 p.m. against the winner of Tampa/Delta State, while the loser will play an elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m. against the loser of Shorter/West Florida.
 
UAH is making the program's ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament, as the Chargers last competed at the South Regional in the 2014 season when the squad earned an automatic berth as Gulf South Conference Champions that year. This is the Chargers third NCAA tournament berth under head coach Hunter Royer.
 
The Chargers enter the matchup with GSC foe Lee on Thursday with a 22-18 overall record – which includes a 16-14 mark in league games – after reaching the conference tournament semifinals earlier this month.
 
UAH's offense has been led by First Team All-GSC honoree Garrett Bodine, who leads the team with a .362 batting average and 90 total bases on the season as he's racked up nine doubles, six triples and five home runs.
 
Overall, the Chargers offense boasts six lineup regulars batting .300 or higher, while a total of seven players have 20 or more RBI.
 
Tyler Self and Kody Keiser have had the most action on the mound for the Chargers with 63.2 innings and 54.2 innings, respectively. Parker Henson has paced the Chargers bullpen in his 22.1 innings of work with a 1.61 ERA in addition to a 3-0 record and two saves.
 
The Flames start out the NCAA tournament with a 34-9 overall record and a 26-6 mark in GSC games, after also reaching the GSC tournament semifinals earlier this month.
 
Lee has a pair of top contributors on offense, including Alan Smith with a .385 average and 17 doubles as well Ryan Beamish with a .363 batting average and 20 home runs.
 
Logan Workman is the ace of the Lee pitching staff with a 1.88 ERA over 71.2 innings pitched to go along with 101 strikeouts. Overall, the Flames pitching staff holds a 4.20 ERA.