As the regular season of Atlantic 10 baseball closes out its final two weeks of play, it will see two teams battle for the conference title. For Rhode Island and Dayton, the race is on.

Rhode Island (32-15-1, 17-3 A-10) has a slight advantage as it clings to a one-game lead over the Flyers.

Prior to its series against Fordham, URI senior shortstop Dan Rhault was named to the watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, which honors the country’s top shortstop. Rhault holds the triple crown for Rhode Island, leading the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs. With 49 RBIs, he is just 11 away from tying the Rhode Island single-season record.

Rhault and the Rams then hosted Fordham in a three-game series, winning two of three.

The Rams earned a close victory with a late rally in the rubber match on Sunday. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th, freshman Milan Adams singled to third to score Tom Coulombe, lifting the Rams to a 7-6 victory.

Rhode Island will next travel to Massachusetts to face the Minutemen (19-22, 11-10 A-10) in a three-game series beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Charlotte rising

After winning its last four conference series behind a batch of late-game comebacks, Charlotte‘s place as a top contender in the A-10 is becoming more convincing by the day. The two-time defending A-10 champions most recently staged comeback wins to open its series against La Salle. On Sunday, however, the 49ers’ bid for their third-straight comeback win and series sweep fell short. Despite scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth, Charlotte still lost, 8-7, to the Explorers.

Charlotte (28-17, 12-9 A-10) next hosts St. Joseph‘s for a three-game set beginning Friday.

Slumping SLU

After winning the A-10 Championship in 2006, St. Louis (24-24, 8-12 A-10) finds itself at the bottom of the standings.

On Saturday, the Billikens closed out a series win over George Washington after winning the second game of a doubleheader, 7-3. The win keeps St. Louis within striking distance for a spot in the A-10 Championships.

St. Louis returns to action on Friday, when it visits Temple for a very important three-game series. If unsuccessful, the Billikens will leave their fate in the hands of powerhouse Rhode Island for the last series before the A-10 Championships.

Steve Levine can be reached at [email protected].