What You Need to Know:
• Senior catcher Joey Roach is hitting .365 with 10 home runs and 35 RBI in 34 games, including five homers in the last seven games.
• Roach is the Sun Belt's active leader in career hits and RBI while ranking third with 24 career homers.
• Third baseman Jarrett Hood is the Panthers' leading hitter with a .386 average (third in Sun Belt), 26 RBI, and a Sun Belt-leading 14 doubles.
GEORGIA STATE vs. GEORGIA TECH (GSU Baseball Complex)
Wednesday, 6 p.m.
Please note: Free student shuttles will be available beginning at 5 p.m. from the GSU Student Center to Panthersville.
RECORDS
Georgia State: 16-19 overall, 5-10 Sun Belt
Georgia Tech: 24-11 overall, 8-9 ACC, No. 26 by NCBWA
COVERAGE
Radio on 1340 The Fan 3, with streaming on GeorgiaStateSports.com and GSU mobile apps.
Live statistics on GeorgiaStateSports.com and GSU mobile apps.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
GSU: Devin Vainer (LHP, Jr., 0-2, 8.72) vs. GT: TBA
LEADING OFF
• Georgia State completes its annual series with Georgia Tech by hosting the Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 26 by NCBWA, Wednesday at 6 p.m. Tech won its home game, 11-6 on March 1.
• Senior catcher Joey Roach was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week (April 11) and Sun Belt Conference Community Coffee Student-Athlete of the Week after belting four home runs in four games while hitting .500 (7-for-14) with eight RBI for the week.
• Roach was GSU's second straight Sun Belt honoree and the Panthers' fourth Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week in three seasons, joining Nic Wilson (twice in 2014) and Ryan Blanton (2015).
• Sophomore first baseman Jack Thompson was the April 4 Sun Belt Conference Community Coffee Student-Athlete of the Week after he hit .625 (10-for-16) with two homers, seven RBI and eight runs scored in four games, including wins over Mercer and UT Arlington.
• The Panthers lead the Sun Belt in scoring (6.7 runs per game) and on-base percentage (.390) while ranking second in home runs (29) and slugging (.423) and third in batting average (.291).
• The Panthers' March 20 win over Arkansas State was win No. 294 at Georgia State for head coach Greg Frady as he became Georgia State's career leader in victories, surpassing Mike Hurst, who won 293 games from 1993-2006. Frady now has 299 wins in his 10th season in Atlanta.
• With five homers in his last seven games, Joey Roach has 10 on the season (second in the Sun Belt) and 24 for his career. He is hitting .365 with 35 RBI in 34 games.
• Junior third baseman Jarrett Hood is the Panthers' leading hitter with a .386 average (third in Sun Belt), 26 RBI, two homers and a Sun Belt-leading 14 doubles.
• Joey Roach is one of 30 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. The two-time All-Sun Belt selection and Johnny Bench Award semifinalist is also a CoSIDA Academic All-American with a 3.89 GPA in actuarial science.
• Joey Roach is the Sun Belt's active leader with 186 career hits and 121 RBI while ranking third with 24 career home runs (tied for 14th in GSU history).
• Now playing regularly as the right fielder or DH, freshman Darius Sewell is hitting .303 with nine RBI in 10 starts.
• Georgia State has won five games in its final at-bat, including four, extra-inning walk-offs, compliments of Israel Zackery (walk-off single vs. Western Michigan), Will Kilgore (walk-off homer vs. Minnesota), James Clements (walk-off single vs. Arkansas State) and Jarrett Hood (walk-off homer vs. Savannah State).
• Three Panthers were tabbed to the Preseason All-Sun Belt team in catcher Joey Roach, center fielder Ryan Blanton and shortstop Justin Jones.
• This year's roster features 18 returning letterwinners and 17 new players, including five freshmen, two redshirt freshmen and 10 transfers.
WAY TO GO, JOE: Joey Roach was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball newspaper as well as Community Coffee Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Week on April 11 after the senior catcher smashed four home runs in four games while hitting .500 with eight RBI.
Roach is the Panthers' fourth Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week in the last three seasons, joining Nic Wilson (twice in 2014) and Ryan Blanton (2015).
The Holly Springs, N.C., native began the week by hitting two homers and driving in three runs in the Panthers' 7-4 loss at Auburn with a two-run blast in the third inning and a solo shot in the eighth.
In GSU's 7-5 win at Little Rock, he had a run-scoring single in the fifth inning and then a solo home run in the top of the ninth that proved to be a crucial insurance run. In Sunday's 9-7 loss, Roach had another RBI-single, and then in the top of the ninth, he brought the Panthers within two runs with a two-run bomb.
GSU'S LOUISVILLE SLUGGER NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS
Chad Smith, Feb. 21, 2000
Nic Wilson, March 17, 2014
Nic Wilson, May 5, 2014
Ryan Blanton, March 16, 2015
Joey Roach, April 11, 2016
SERIES VS. GEORGIA TECH: Georgia Tech holds a 62-10 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 1971 and has been continuous since 1993. The Panthers are 4-13 against Tech under head coach Greg Frady, who took over at GSU in 2007. Three of the four wins have come at Tech's Russ Chandler Stadium. GSU's 10-1 victory in 2009 over a Tech team ranked No. 3 in the nation represents the highest-ranked team that the Panthers have ever beaten. Georgia State has defeated nationally-ranked Georgia Tech teams four times under Frady.
Georgia Tech won the first meeting this season, 11-6 at Russ Chandler Stadium. Joey Roach and Jack Thompson homered for the Panthers. Tech also captured the last game at the GSU Baseball Complex with a 6-3 decision in 2015.
GSU'S RECENT WINS OVER GEORGIA TECH
3-21-07 (@GT) GSU 9, No. 15 GT 5
3-24-09 (@GT) GSU 10, No. 3 GT 1
3-2-11 (@GT) GSU 6, No. 23 GT 3
3-7-12 (@GSU) GSU 5, No. 10 GT 4
