By Jeff Mills
 
GREENSBORO -- UNCG heads into its final three-game series of the regular season chasing the fourth and final spot in the Southern Conference baseball tournament.
 
But with four teams chasing the fourth seed, the G is a longshot and will need help.
 
The Spartans (26-23 overall, 11-16 SoCon) host fellow contender VMI (16-28, 11-16 SoCon) at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The teams play a single game at 4 p.m. Thursday, followed by a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday.
 
The playoff scenario for both UNCG and VMI is the same: sweep the series, and hope Western Carolina (23-19, 11-11 SoCon) loses all three games in its series at The Citadel, the last-place team in the SoCon standings.
 
Western controls its own destiny and will sew up the fourth seed with two wins. The Catamounts will also advance with one win and at least one loss by contender East Tennessee State (22-24, 11-15 SoCon), which hosts Samford in a three-game series.
 
But all UNCG can control is its own games against VMI.
 
The Spartans have won four of their last six games, and they are 11-4 in their last 15 games.
 
Lead-off hitter Corey Rosier, a redshirt sophomore, leads UNCG's offense. He comes into the series batting .353, sixth in the SoCon among hitters with at least 100 at-bats. Rosier leads the SoCon in hits (71), triples (4), runs (56), RBIs (50) and total bases (124). He's also fourth in the league with 17 stolen bases, and he leads the Spartans with 12 home runs.
 
Sophomore second baseman Hogan Windish is batting .280 with 10 doubles, 10 home runs and 46 RBIs. First baseman Josh Madole is batting .314, and outfielder Greg Hardison is batting .312.
 
Junior right-hander Austin Parsley (8-2, 3.54 ERA) has been dominant out of the bullpen, walking eight and striking out 58 in 56 innings.
 
Sophomore right-hander Austin Koehn (4-3, 5.21 ERA) leads The G with 14 starts and 66 innings pitched.
 
VMI features the SoCon's leading hitter, redshirt freshman Justin Starke, who comes in batting .413, which ranks 10th in the nation among NCAA Division I players. Just 16 of Starke's 62 hits have gone for extra bases, but he's second on his team with six home runs and 26 RBIs.
 
Sophomore outfieler Will Knight comes in batting .293, and he leads the Keydets with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. Freshman outfielder Trey Morgan is batting .326.
 
Freshman right-hander Tyler Bradt (1-3, 3.38 ERA in 16 appearances) is the only Keydets pitcher with an ERA under 4.00.
 
Senior right-hander Jacob Menders (5-3, 6.31 ERA in 81.1 innings) and sophomore lefty Nathan Light (3-9, 6.40 ERA in 71.2 innings) have been VMI's workhorses, combining for 25 starts and 115 strikeouts.