Friday night in Lafayette, La., the baseball season truly begins for Troy University.

The road to TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha is a clear path, and that journey starts when the Trojans open up Sun Belt Conference play Friday against UL Lafayette.

In ULL, the Trojans (7-5) will get an immediate chance to match wits with the cream of the Sun Belt crop, the 2014 defending conference champion Ragin’ Cajuns.

The teams will square off in a three-game series, beginning Friday at 6 p.m., with a 2 p.m. game on Saturday and a 1 p.m. Sunday start to cap off the series.

On Friday, freshman pitchers will duel when Troy’s Corey Childress (2-0) takes on UL Lafayette’s Evan Guillory.

On Saturday, Grant Bennett (2-0) and Greg Milhorn (0-0) will take the ball, and on Sunday, freshman left-hander Gunner Leger (0-0) gets the nod. Troy has yet to name a starter for the finale.

The Troy pitching staff is among the best in the country currently, leading the Sun Belt Conference with a 2.59 ERA on the year.

Troy’s two top relievers, Lucas Brown and Jeremy McGowan, have thrown nine scoreless innings combined over the last five games.

Offensively, Trevin Hall leads the Trojans from the plate, boasting a .405 batting average. Hall is tied with David Hall and Matt Sanders for nine RBIs on the year for Troy.

And Troy’s Clay Holcomb is making a living on base, reaching in 26 of his last 28 games.

For ULL, Nick Thurman leads the Ragin’ Cajuns offense with a .457 average while Joe Ribbins leads the club with two home runs and 12 RBIs.