POSITION: Right-Handed Pitcher
CLASS: Junior
HOMETOWN: Senoia, Ga.
NEXT GAME: Opening Day, Feb. 13 vs. Fordham, 4 p.m. GSU Baseball Complex
ATLANTA- Nathan Bates is a junior pitcher who is expected to be a mainstay in Georgia State's weekend rotation.
The 6-7 right-hander has a career earned run average of 4.01 in 25 games in two seasons. Bates was second on the team last year in innings with 62.1 as he pitched into the sixth inning or later in his last seven starts.
As a freshman in 2013, he was named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week after recording 11 strikeouts at New Orleans.
Bates was an all-county selection in both baseball and basketball at Starr's Mill High School. His sister was an all-conference swimmer at Georgia Southern.
Since you are so tall, do you ever get mistaken for a basketball player?
Nathan Bates: Absolutely. All the time.
Your parents, Doug and Angie, are at every single game, even when you're not pitching. How important is it for your parents to be so involved at GSU?
NB: It's pretty huge. They've been involved with my entire baseball career so it's very important to me that they are still involved now.
Is there a rivalry between you and your sister since she swam at Georgia Southern?
NB: Not at all. She always roots for me. Georgia Southern is her favorite team in baseball unless they are playing Georgia State and Georgia State baseball is her favorite team no matter what. I really appreciate that from her.
Do you have a pregame ritual?
NB: Not really. I just try to stay relaxed. You get nerves before every game so I just try to keep them in check before I go out on the field.
What is your favorite thing about GSU?
NB: Probably the relationships I've made with my teammates. Just having 30-something guys that I'm close to there for you all the time is great.
What is your pet peeve?
NB: When people cut you off in traffic with no blinker. It happened to me the other day and it's the worst.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
NB: San Diego, California. The weather is the same all year long and that's hard to beat.
What is the best compliment you have ever gotten?
NB: Someone compared me to [St. Louis Cardinals pitcher] Adam Wainwright, build and style wise, so that was a huge compliment.
Do you consider yourself a leader to the younger guys?
NB: I try to be. It's hard to know what they think about it but I try to be as much of a leader as I can. I try to lead by example to not just the younger guys but the whole team in general.
What is your most memorable game?
NB: The game we played at Mercer my freshman year. It was the first time I came in and threw for five innings and we ended up getting the win. It was my first win in college so that was pretty exciting.
How do you approach trying to strike out an opponent?
NB: I try to throw it where they aren't expecting. A lot of guys get up to the plate and try to guess where the ball is going, so I try to out-think them and throw it somewhere else.
