JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven baseball team will make their first trip away from Jackson in 2017, as the Green and Gold will play their second Top 25 opponent in No. 13 UT Tyler this weekend from Irwin Field in Tyler, Texas. All three games will be broadcast on the Blazers Sports Network. 

Friday's contest will be a night game, scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, and Saturday's finale will be a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. 

BU (7-3, 2-1 ASC) is playing for the first time of the road this season. The Green and Gold posted an 8-11 mark away from Smith-Wills Stadium in 2016. 

The Blazers had seven trips away from the Jackson-metro in 2016, but in 2017, there are five road trips scheduled this season. 

Belhaven is coming off a victory against Millsaps on Tuesday night to even the Cowboy Maloney Series at a game a piece, defeating the Majors, 8-6, from Twenty Field. Prior to the win, the Green and Gold took two of three games from the defending ASC Baseball Tournament runner-up a season ago in the form of Hardin-Simmons. 

Stephen Sexton was named as a member of the D3Baseball.Com Team of the Week, announced on Tuesday. The senior posted six hits, three doubles and a home run, and drove in six RBIs. 

The Arkansas-Monticello transfer is fifth in the ASC in slugging percentage (.794) and second in the conference with six doubles. 

Also announced on Tuesday, the Blazers were ranked eighth in the first National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Top 10 National Rankings. 

BU is ranked fifth in the ASC in hitting (.304), third in slugging (.466) and their seven dingers is tied for third on offense. 

On the pitching side, the Green and Gold are ranked fourth in ERA (3.96), third in opposing batting average (.236) and fifth in strikeouts (75).

UT Tyler (9-2, 2-1) jumped up seven spots to No. 13 in the latest D3Baseball.Com Top 25 Poll. The Patriots are also ranked 18th in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Top 25 for D-III. 

Ironically enough, the Patriots, in 2016 when they came to Smith-Wills Stadium, were also ranked 13th in last year's D3Baseball poll, but BU took two of three from the eventual ASC Baseball Tournament Champions. 

UT Tyler earned a NCAA Division III Baseball Championship bid in the Spokane (Wash.) Regional in 2016, defeating Cal Lutheran and Whitworth (Wash.) before falling to Trinity (Texas), who won the championship a year ago, and Pacific Lutheran (Wash.), who eliminated the Patriots from the regional. 

Along with Sexton's selection to the D3Baseball Team of the Week in the outfield, Trenton Buchhorn went 12-for-18 (.667 average) with nine RBIs for the Patriots with two doubles and a triple. His performance was also good for ASC Player of the Week honors. 

Buchhorn is hitting .457 on the season for the Patriots with seven runs scored and 10 RBIs. 

As a team, UTT is third in the ASC in batting average (.331) and on-base percentage (.419) and fifth in slugging percentage (.425). 

On the mound, the Patriots are second in the conference in ERA with a 3.30 mark. Between the two teams, they are neck-and-neck with opposing batting average and strikeouts, BU has the upper hand in batting average against (.232 to .244), while UTT has struck out 84 batters compared to the Blazers' 83. 

Ryan Chetham (3-0) has allowed four earned runs in 18 innings pitched, and has allowed opposing hitters to a .194 average. 

However, for UTT, it is the back of the bullpen that makes it challenging for opposing teams to rally late. Closer Hunter Palmer hsa started the season with 11 scoreless innings, striking out 12 and collecting three saves. 

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