GEORGIA STATE (9-20, 2-7) vs. ULM (11-18, 2-7)
THE SERIES (at the GSU Baseball Complex)
Friday, 6 p.m.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, 1 p.m.
COVERAGE: Free PantherVision audio stream on GeorgiaStateSports.com, GSU mobile app.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday: GSU Jr. RHP Hunter Gaddis (1-3, 4.70) vs. ULM LHP Trey Jeans (0-5, 4.80)
Saturday: GSU Jr. LHP Tyler Koch (0-3, 7.71) vs. ULM RHP Ty Barnes (2-1, 6.75)
Sunday: GSU So. RHP Trey Horton (0-1, 3.15) vs. TBA
LEADING OFF
>Coming off a 10-8 victory over Furman, Georgia State hosts ULM in a Sun Belt Conference series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
>GSU pounded out 16 hits in the win over Furman, including two doubles and four RBI by Rhett Harper.
>Senior right fielder Brandon Bell is Georgia State's leading hitter at .351 (No. 9 in Sun Belt), including 17-for-35 over the last eight games. The Preseason All-Sun Belt selection also three saves in five appearances on the mound, pitching 4.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts and saves vs. Georgia Southwestern, Kennesaw State and Furman.
>Friday starter Hunter Gaddis was named Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week (March 18) after a combined shutout over Appalachian State. He pitched eight scoreless innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts while allowing just four hits, all singles, in the 2-0 win. The 6-6 right-hander earned the third Sun Belt weekly honor of his career.
>Gaddis, the Preseason All-America and Preseason Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year, ranks fourth in GSU history with 213 career strikeouts,10th with 14 career victories and 10th in innings pitched (221.2). That includes a 9-4 record and a 2.95 ERA in 2018, when he tied for the Sun Belt lead in victories while ranking second in the league in innings pitched (100.2), third in strikeouts (98) and fourth in ERA.
>Outfielder-turned pitcher-turned back to outfielder Rhett Harper batted for the first time in more than three years in last week's win over Kennesaw State. He reached base in four of five plate appearances, including two singles and the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning. Then he had a career-high four RBI on two doubles in Wednesday's win over Furman. In four games, he has six hits and five RBI.
>Sophomore shortstop Griffin Cheney is second on the team with a .327 batting average. Cheney played sparingly as a freshman and did not have a hit last year. But this season, after entering the starting lineup in Game 3, he has reached base in every game but one.
>The Panthers clinched their series at Appalachian State with a 17-6 victory Sunday, fueled by an eight-run second inning. The 17 runs are the most that GSU has ever scored in a Sun Belt game.
>Sophomore right-hander and Sunday starter Trey Horton pitched into the ninth inning at Little Rock, allowing just two runs on four hits with five strikeouts. In his previous start, he tossed six scoreless innings vs. UT Arlington, also allowing four hits with five strikeouts. Horton leads the team with a 3.15 ERA and a .186 average against, including a 1.29 ERA over his last two starts.
>The Panthers are playing without first baseman Jake Corso, their top hitter and run producer, due to injury. HItting .325, he led the team in RBI (17) and extra-base hits (11) when he was injured.
>Junior designated hitter Elian Merejo leads the team with four homers and has two game-winning hits in GSU's final at-bat, mostly recently a two-out, two-run walk-off single in the 13th inning to give the Panthers a 6-5 victory over ETSU (March 8). At Charleston Southern, trailing by one in the top of the ninth, his two-run single lifted GSU to a 7-6 victory and series win.
>The freshman trio of RHP Ryan Watson (3 wins, 1 save), RHP Joseph Brandon (1 win, 1 save) and LHP Seth Clark (2 wins) have combined for six wins and two saves in 32 appearances. Three other freshmen -- infielders Chase Frady and Jackson Sisk and out outfielder Josh Smith -- have combined to make 37 starts in the field.
>Now in his 13th season as the Georgia State head coach, Greg Frady is the Panthers' career victory leader with 364 in Atlanta as part of his 551 career wins in his 19th season.
THE SERIES vs. ULM: ULM holds an 8-7 edge in the series, which began when Georgia State re-joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2014.
>The home team has won 12 of the 15 meetings.
>ULM swept the three games at Monroe, La., last season, 9-6, 11-2 and 9-4.
>The Panthers took two of three in Atlanta in 2016. After falling 4-3 on Friday, GSU won 4-3 in 11 innings and then 6-1.
