GEORGIA STATE (12-12, 1-4 Sun Belt) at TROY (17-8, 3-3 Sun Belt)
Thursday, 7 p.m. ET
Friday, 7 p.m. ET
Saturday, 2 p.m. ET
at Riddle-Pace Field, Troy, Ala.
COVERAGE: All three games will air on ESPN3.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Thursday: GSU RHP Jordan Lee (Sr., 2-0, 3.45) vs. Troy RHP Andrew Crane (3-2, 3.75)
Friday: GSU RHP Hunter Gaddis (So., 5-1, 1.69) vs. Troy RHP Rush Hixon (Jr., 1-1, 3.05)
Saturday: GSU RHP Jake Rogers (Jr., 3-2, 3.82) vs. Troy RHP Daren Osby (Sr., 3-0, 3.60)
LEADING OFF
>Led by two-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week Hunter Gaddis and hot-hitting catcher Nick Gatewood, Georgia State (12-12 overall, 1-4 Sun Belt) travels to Troy for a Sun Belt Conference series that will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday due to the Easter holiday. The Panthers won two out of three from Troy in Atlanta last season.
>Last weekend, Georgia State split a pair of games with Sun Belt preseason favorite South Alabama before Sunday's game was rained out.
>Georgia State leads the nation with 31 double plays turned.
>Junior catcher Nick Gatewood leads the Panthers with a .374 batting average, seven homers, 22 RBI and 20 runs scored. He ranks second in the Sun Belt in homers, third in batting average and second with a .659 slugging percentage.
>Over the last seven games, Gatewood is 16-for-31 with four homers and 13 RBI. That includes a two-homer, six-RBI performance in GSU's 7-2 win over South Alabama last Friday.
>Behind the plate, Gatewood has thrown out eight of 17 runners attempting to steal and picked off two others. He was named to the watch list for the 2018 Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top catcher.
>Friday starter Hunter Gaddis has been named Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week two of the last three weeks. He threw his second complete game in last Friday's 7-2 win over South Alabama, allowing four hits and striking out eight. He blanked the Jaguars for seven innings before allowing two runs in the eighth.
>Gaddis was also honored by the Sun Belt on March 12 after tossing a complete-game, three-hit shutout with a career-high 10 strikeouts and no walks in 2-0 win at Samford. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
>Gaddis is tied for second in the NCAA with five victories, and his 1.69 ERA is third in the Sun Belt. The 6-5 right-hander was 4-4 with a 3.72 ERA as a freshman while pitching as the Saturday starter. Following his standout rookie season, Gaddis became the first Panther to pitch for the Team USA Collegiate National Team in the summer of 2017.
>Saturday starter Jake Rogers has started two combined shutouts in a 1-0 victory at Samford and a 7-0 win over Jacksonville.
>The Panthers' weekend rotation of Hunter Gaddis, Jake Rogers and Jordan Lee has a 10-3 record.
>Senior shortstop Justin Jones is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America, earning second-team honors in 2017 after third-team accolades in 2016. His GPA, which is now 4.11, was the highest on the entire Academic America team.
>Georgia State's 2018 schedule is perhaps the most challenging in school history, highlighted by Power 5 foes Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Minnesota and Ole Miss.
>Now in his 12th season, head coach Greg Frady is Georgia State's career victory leader with 341 for the Panthers as part of his 528 career wins.
>Frady is a 1987 graduate of Troy and was a member of the Trojans' 1986 Division II national championship team. He and Troy head coach Mark Smartt were teammates.
SERIES VS. TROY: Georgia State won two of three from the Trojans in Atlanta last season. The Panthers won 9-3 and 3-2 in 12 innings before Troy took the finale 5-3 after scoring four runs in the ninth inning.
>Hunter Gaddis had a strong start in Game 3 vs. the Trojans, allowing just two hits and one unearned run through eight innings before Troy won it in the ninth.
>In the last series at Riddle-Pace Field in 2015, Troy won three close games, 4-2, 3-2 and 2-0.
>Three of the four Sun Belt series between the two teams have been played in Atlanta.
>The 2014 series in Georgia State's first year in the Sun Belt was the first between GSU and Troy since 2005, when both were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The two schools played annually as members of the TAAC/ASun from 1999-2005. Troy leads the overall series 32-11, including 15-3 at Troy.
JONES' RECORD WATCH: With 183 career games, senior shortstop Justin Jones is nearing milestones and records.
>GSU career leader in sacrifice bunts with 34, surpassing previous record of 33 by Ryan Sterling, 2003-05. Ranks fourth among all active Division I players.
>Hit by pitch 29 times, second in GSU history to Bradley Logan, 35, 2007-10.
>Has 516 career fielding assists, currently tied for second in school history with Jean-Michel Rochon-Salvas (2005-08). He trails only record-holder Michael Brand (524, 1993-96).
>Has scored 113 runs in his career and is nearing the 100-RBI (90) and 200-hit marks (196).
