GEORGIA STATE (5-3) at ETSU (6-2)
Feb. 29-March 1 | Saturday, 2 p.m. | Sunday, DH, 12 p.m
Thomas Stadium  |  Johnson City, Tenn.

PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday:     GSU So. LHP Seth Clark (0-0, 7.11) vs. ETSU RHP Landon Knack (2-0, 0.00)
Saturday:     GSU So. RHP Ryan Watson (1-0, 3.97) vs. ETSU LHP Colby Stuart (0-1, 5.79)
Sunday:    GSU TBA vs. ETSU RHP Zach Kirby (1-1, 5.62)

LEADING OFF

>After a 10-9, 10-inning victory at Western Carolina, Georgia State remains on the road for a weekend series at ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn. The Buccaneers are coming off a Tuesday win at Clemson.

>In anticipation of inclement weather, the series has been altered to a single game Saturday and a doubleheader Sunday.

>In Wednesday's win at WCU, freshman shortstop Will Mize drove in the tying run in the eighth inning and then brought home the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning single. Another freshman, Kyle Riesselmann, went 4-for-6 with a homer, two doubles and two RBI. Relievers Chad Treadway (2.0 IP, 4 K) and Joseph Brandon (1.2 IP, 4 K) finished the game with 3.2 innings of hitless, scoreless relief with eight strikeouts.

>First-year head coach Brad 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 ranks second in the nation in walks (13). He is tied for the Sun Belt lead, with teammate Elian Merejo, in on-base percentage (.585)  second in stolen bases (5). 

>Senior outfielder Elian Merejo was named Sun Belt Player of the Week on Feb. 17 after going 7-for-11 with two homers, two doubles, seven RBI and seven runs scored as the Panthers opened the season with wins over 2019 NCAA Regional team Cincinnati, St. John's and Saint Peters.

>Merejo leads the Panthers and ranks third in the Sun Belt with a .452 batting average, along with a .585 on-base percentage that is tied for the league lead. He has walked 10 times, including four intentional walks.

>After his 2-for-5, 3-RBI night at Western Carolina, freshman shortstop Will Mize is hitting .423 and leads the Panthers with nine RBI.

>Starting pitcher Ryan Watson is coming off the best outing of his career in last Saturday's win over Bryant. The sophomore right-hander pitched into the ninth inning and allowed just one earned run on three hits with a career-high eight strikeouts and no walk. He also picked off two runners, one at first and one at second.

>Georgia State freshmen hurlers have earned three wins and a save. Five freshmen (Cameron Jones, Chandler Dawson, Duncan Lutz, Chad Treadway and Brandon Haston) have combined for a 3.34 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 29.2 innings.

>Freshman reliever Cameron Jones earned a win vs. 2019 NCAA regional team Cincinnati and a save vs. St. John's in his first two collegiate appearances. The lefty from Kathleen, Ga., pitched 3.2 innings scoreless out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit while striking out four. In the top of the 10th inning against Cincinnati, he pitched a rare Immaculate Inning, striking out the side on nine pitches, to set up the Panthers' walk-off in the bottom half.

>Georgia State and ETSU are meeting for the second straight year. Last year in Atlanta, Elian Merejo's two-out, two-run walk-off single in the 13th inning gave the Panthers a 6-5 victory in Game 1, but the Buccaneers swept the Saturday DH, 8-2 and 5-1.