WEEKEND PREVIEW: Georgia State (3-1) vs. Bryant (0-4)
Friday, 4 p.m. | Saturday, 2 p.m. | Sunday, 1 p.m.
GSU Baseball Complex

> Off to a 3-1 start under first-year head coach Brad Stromdahl, Georgia State hosts Bryant (0-4) in a weekend series opening Friday at 4 p.m.  

> The Panthers opened the season with wins over 2019 NCAA Regional team Cincinnati, St. John's and Saint Peters last weekend before dropping their mid-week game at Gardner-Webb. 

 > Georgia State and Bryant are meeting for the first time. The Bulldogs, who won 40 games a year ago, have won eight straight Northeast Conference titles and reached the NCAA Regionals three times in the last nine years. 

 > Stromdahl took over the Georgia State program after seven seasons as the head coach at Georgia Gwinnett, where he started the program from scratch in 2013 and compiled a record of 328-104. He led the Grizzlies to the Avista-NAIA World Series three times, including the last two years. Before going to Georgia Gwinnett in November 2011, Stromdahl spent five seasons (2007-11) as an assistant coach at Georgia State.

> Junior third baseman Griffin Cheney LEADS THE NATION in walks (9) and ranks fourth (4) in hit by pitch. He has reached base in 15 of 22 plate appearances for a .682 on-base percentage. Cheney leads the team with nine runs scored and 4-for-4 on stolen bases.

> Senior designated hitter Elian Merejo is the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week after going 7-for-11 with two homers, two doubles, seven RBI and seven runs scored in the Panthers' 3-0 start.

> Merejo figured prominently in all three wins last weekend. After Cincinnati took a 5-1 lead in the third inning, he responded with a two-run blast to cut the deficit to 5-3. In the 10th inning, he smacked a one-out double and then scored the winning run in the walk-off. He was 2-for-3 with an RBI-single in the Saturday 7-5 win over St. John's. GSU fell behind Saint Peter's 5-1, but Merejo's three-run homer in the fifth inning jump-started the offense and pulled the Panthers within 5-4. Then he was intentionally walked in GSU's three-run sixth inning and again in the eighth inning to set up the game-winning hit by Josh Smith.

> Senior second baseman Daino Deas delivered the walk-off win over Cincinnati on Opening Day with a one-out, opposite field single in the bottom of the 10th, scoring Elian Merejo from second base for 9-8 victory. The Bearcats broke a 6-6 tie with two runs in the top of the ninth, but GSU tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with both runs scoring on wild pitches.

> Georgia State freshmen hurlers earned all three wins and a save in the Panthers' three victories. Five freshmen (Cameron Jones, Chandler Dawson, Duncan Lutz, Chad Treadway and Brandon Haston) pitched 12.2 innings and allowed just one run on six hits with 14 strikeouts.

> Two freshmen position players are also making an impact in shortstop Will Mize (.500, 2 doubles, 2 RBI) and Kyle Riesselmann (.273, 2 RBI, 2 triples).