The 2014 season ushers in a new era for Georgia State baseball with the move into the Sun Belt Conference, and the Panthers will make this step with an experienced and talented club.
As eighth-year head coach Greg Frady and his Panthers prepare for their first season in the perennially strong Sun Belt, Georgia State returns the majority of the lineup that ranked in the top five nationally in batting average (.321) and runs per game (7.9) during 2013's 35-win campaign. The Panthers return 19 letterwinners, including three players who earned All-America recognition last spring, and have added 11 newcomers.
Headlining the returning cast are two honorable-mention All-Americans in shortstop Chad Prain and outfielder-designated hitter Chase Raffield, as well as freshman All-American Matt Rose, a standout on the infield and the mound.
“We had a very good season in 2013 with 35 wins with a very young team in our final year in the Colonial Athletic Association, and now we are looking forward to challenge of playing in the Sun Belt Conference,” Frady said.
“This year's team has a lot of seniors and veteran players, and even our sophomores are experienced because they played so much last year,” he continued. “We've also added several freshmen and junior college players who will contribute immediately. We have a chance to have a really good year, with what we have returning and what we have added, but we also have a lot of challenges in front of us.”
Georgia State has built a reputation as a strong hitting club, and the 2014 edition should be no exception. GSU returns four regulars who batted .349 or higher in 2013, led by Prain, the senior from Valdosta, Ga., who sparked the lineup with a .394 average and 48 runs batted in at the top of the order. Raffield, a Preseason All-American, was the team's top power threat with 10 home runs and 51 RBI, while all-conference third baseman Caden Bailey hit .353. Second baseman Greg Bowder batted .349 but missed the second half of the season with a broken hand. Also returning are senior outfielder Chris Triplett, who hit .319 with six homers, sophomore catcher Joey Roach (.296), Rose (.283) and senior first baseman Nic Wilson, who belted eight homers.
“We were a very good offensive club last year, and we have the majority of that lineup back, with another year of experience. We can hit for power and for average and from both sides of the plate.”
The Panthers have added depth and speed to their lineup with several talented freshmen, but the incoming class should have the most impact on the pitching staff. The pitchers who return for Georgia State accounted for all but five of the team's victories and all 13 saves from 2013, and Frady and his staff welcome four junior college standouts in left-handers Kenny Anderson (Gordon State), Tyler McClure (Chattanooga State) and Wayne Wages (Marion Military Institute) and righty Kevin Burgee (Gordon State).
Top returnees on the pitching staff include senior southpaws Andrew Fessler (6-2, 3.04 ERA) and Ben Burns (6-3, 2 saves), junior righty Jerry Stuckey (3-2, 3 saves) and the sophomore right-hander Rose (3-2, 5 saves, 2.55).
“We have added a lot of depth to our pitching staff, particularly with four talented junior college pitchers,” Frady said. “We've bolstered the rotation and the back end of the bullpen. We have six potential starters, including four lefties, and a lot of bullpen options. With eight left-handers on the staff, we have the ability to play matchups.
“One of our main areas of emphasis in the fall was improving our team defense. That's an area where we were somewhat inconsistent last season, and we definitely made progress in the fall, but we need to continue to work at it.”
Freshman position players who are expected to contribute immediately include outfielder Ryan Blanton, catcher-outfielder Trae Sweeting and catcher Zach Moon.
INFIELD
The entire infield returns for the Panthers, led by All-America shortstop Chad Prain, a senior who enjoyed one of the top offensive seasons in the nation last spring and was the catalyst for GSU's offensive production.
The high-energy Prain finished 11th in the nation with a .394 batting average and earned honorable mention All-America recognition from Louisville Slugger/CollegeBaseballInsider.com. He was a first-team all-conference selection, a second-team all-region choice, a member of the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award Watch List and a semifinalist for the Gregg Olson Award as the national “Breakout Player of the Year.”
Hitting at the top of the lineup, Prain led the team with a .457 on-base percentage and was second with a .527 slugging percentage, contributing four homers, 16 doubles, one triple and 48 RBI while stealing 15 bases on 18 attempts.
Along with Prain, the Panthers return potent bats and versatile gloves in junior Caden Bailey, a two-time all-conference selection, and freshman All-American Matt Rose.
Bailey is a left-handed hitter with a career average of .335 who can play second base, shortstop or third base. He enters his junior season as GSU's active leader in games (106), hits (129) and runs (68). He earned second-team All-CAA honors at third base last spring, when he hit .353 with 33 RBI and 40 runs scored.
An impressive two-way talent, Rose will play first or third base when he is not on the mound. As a freshman, he produced at the plate with a .283 average, four homers and 32 RBI while playing well defensively. He was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team by Collegiate Baseball and the CAA All-Freshman squad.
Georgia State also returns fifth-year senior Greg Bowder, a career .332 hitter. He was hitting .349 as the Panthers' starting second baseman last spring until a season-ending injury April 20.
Newcomer David Levy, a junior college transfer from Chattahoochee Valley Community College, adds strong defense at the middle infield spots. Freshman David Mayo is also an option.
At first base, the Panthers feature right-handed power hitter Nic Wilson, a senior who belted eight homers a year ago while leading the team with 27 walks.
Rose should also see time at first base, where freshmen Zach Moon and Austin Parrish add depth on the corners.
CATCHERS
Georgia State graduated Academic All-America catcher Scott Sarrat, but the position is in good hands with sophomore Joey Roach. The left-handed hitting Roach batted .296 with four homers and 24 RBI as a rookie to earn All-Freshman honors in the CAA. He began his freshman year as the backup but moved into a full-time role when Sarratt with a season-ending injury. From April 20 on, Roach caught 126 of the 147 innings the Panthers played. He is also 4.0 student who is establishing himself as a team leader.
Behind Roach is a pair of promising freshmen in Trae Sweeting and Zach Moon.
Sweeting, a native of Nassau, Bahamas who attended high school in North Carolina, is a talented athlete with excellent speed. In fact, he could also see time in center field. Moon, from Brookwood High School in the Atlanta area, stands 6-3 and 210 pounds and offers a powerful right-handed bat.
OUTFIELD
The Georgia State outfield features a pair of powerful bats on the corners in Preseason All-American Chase Raffield in right field and senior Chris Triplett in left.
Raffield enters the 2014 season with Preseason All-America honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) after an All-American, all-conference and all-region campaign in 2013. He ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA with a .382 batting average and a .645 slugging percentage while leading the team with 10 homers, 19 doubles and 51 RBI.
The senior from Cochran, Ga., was primarily a designated hitter last spring as he continued his recovery from a serious knee injury. Now that he is fully healthy, he will play right field full-time.
Triplett, who could play left or center, returns as a starter after hitting .313 with six homers and 29 RBI.
Promising freshman Ryan Blanton should earn playing time in center field. The left-handed hitter comes to GSU from the powerful Parkview High School program in suburban Atlanta.
Versatile sophomore James Clements and newcomer Jody Stone are right-handed options in the outfield, and speedy freshman Trae Sweeting should also see action in the outfield.
STARTING PITCHERS
Georgia State's top returning starting pitcher is senior lefty Andrew Fessler, who led the Panthers with a 6-2 records and a 3.04 earned run average. Fessler led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts, despite missing the first few weeks of the season recovering from injury. He finished seventh in the conference in ERA and first in opponent batting average against (.227) while posting the fifth-best season ERA in school history.
Also in the weekend rotation is sophomore Matt Rose, who excelled as both a starter and a reliever in his rookie season. The hard-throwing right-hander from Melbourne, Fla., and former 24th-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays began the season as a closer and collected five saves before moving into the weekend rotation late in the year. He posted a 3-2 record with a 2.55 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 35.1 innings.
The Panthers also return two sophomores who were weekend starters last spring in left-hander Garrett Ford and 6-7 righty Nathan Bates. Ford (4-4, 6.03) was the workhorse of the GSU staff, starting every weekend series, while Bates was 2-1 with a 2.98 ERA in six starts. Both were named CAA Rookie of the Week.
Two newcomers will also compete for a spot in the weekend rotation in junior college southpaws Tyler McClure and Kenny Anderson.
BULLPEN
Top bullpen returnees Jerry Stuckey and Ben Burns are joined by junior college transfers Kevin Burgee and Wayne Wages.
Burgee, a talented right-hander from Gordon State, is a strong candidate for the closer job. Stuckey, a junior from Perry, Ga., has been a versatile right-hander who can start or relieve. He went 3-2 with three saves in 2013.
Burns, a senior, is a crafty left-hander who tied for the team lead with six victories last spring, along with two saves.
Another experienced right-hander is junior Connor Stanley, who had a 5-2 record and three saves while leading the team with 26 appearances in 2013. Fifth-year senior Aidan McLaughlin is a 6-4 righty who has excellent stuff but has struggled with consistency.
Depending on how the rotation shapes up, lefties Kenny Anderson, Tyler McClure and Garrett Ford and righty Nathan Bates could also throw out of the bullpen if they are not starting.
Perhaps the strength of the GSU bullpen is the presence of eight left-handers on the staff, allowing Frady to play matchups late in the game. In addition to Burns, Wages and possibly Anderson, McClure or Ford, the Panthers can also turn to fifth-year senior Hunter Cash, who returns from Tommy John surgery in 2012, and sophomore Michael Lelko.
Junior Alex Prescott is a side-arming right-hander who converted from catcher-infielder. Freshmen position players Austin Parrish and David Mayo also pitch to add depth from the right side, along with freshman Sean Wilson.
SCHEDULE
Combining a rigorous non-conference slate with its move into the Sun Belt Conference, the Georgia State baseball program will face perhaps the most challenging schedule in school history in 2014.
The Sun Belt produced four NCAA Regional teams last spring and was rated among the top five conferences in the nation, while Georgia State's non-conference slate includes 2013 NCAA Tournament teams Illinois, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Mercer and Savannah State as well as in-state foes Georgia and Kennesaw State. The Panthers have a total of 21 games scheduled against teams that played in 2013 NCAA Regionals.
The 30-game Sun Belt schedule is a full round-robin plus a second series with Western Kentucky. Georgia State will host the Hilltoppers, Troy, South Alabama, UT-Arlington and UALR for three-game home series and will travel for three-game sets at UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, Texas State, Arkansas State and WKU.
The Panthers open with a three-game home series against Illinois, which went 35-20 to earn an NCAA berth last spring. After a mid-week game at Savannah State, also an NCAA participant, the Panthers travel for a three-game set at Ole Miss, meaning GSU opens the season with seven straight games against 2013 NCAA teams.
The non-conference slate includes home-and-home with Georgia Tech, Mercer and Savannah State as well as three games against Kennesaw State and a road game at Georgia.
“The program is definitely moving in a very positive direction, and we're excited to see how we stack up against a challenging schedule,” said Frady, who has led the Panthers to five winning seasons in his seven years at the helm.
