Eleven years ago this weekend, Georgia State's 2009 baseball team made history by winning the program's first conference title with the Colonial Athletic Association Championship and earning the Panthers' first trip to the NCAA Regionals.
 
Brad Stromdahl, now Georgia State's head coach after taking the reins last summer, was an assistant on that squad, serving as the hitting coach for one of the top offensive attacks in program history. The 2009 Panthers set a then-school record for runs scored while hitting .310 and belting 74 home runs en route to a school-record 39 victories.
 

 
One of the team's top players was junior third baseman Bradley Logan, and the tournament's Most Outstanding Player shared his recollections from that magical week in May, 11 years ago.
 
"To be part of something historic is personally something I will never forget! No one can take away the fact we were the first team in school history to win a conference championship and get to play in the regionals!
 
"I believe the moment we felt something was special about this team was actually when we lost to [No. 18-ranked] South Carolina early in the season, 2-0. I think they ended up having a few big leaguers on that team in Jackie Bradley Jr. and Whit Merrifield, and we had a chance to win that ballgame all night. Also, we beat a nationally-ranked Georgia Tech team a few weeks later. We knew after that we could compete nationally."
  
Georgia State entered the tournament, played at UNC Wilmington's Brooks Field, as the No. 2 seed. The Panthers had their "survive-and-advance" moment in the opening game against Northeastern when they were down by a run in the ninth before winning on Derek Simmons' walk-off single in the 10th.
 
Convincing wins over UNCW and then No. 1 seed George Mason put Georgia State in the championship round against the host Seahawks. GSU would have two chances to defeat UNCW for the title, but the Panthers rallied for a 12-10 victory in Saturday's first game to clinch the trophy.
 
"What really stands out when I think back is how competitive and resilient, we were. I remember we walked off for the win in the opening game, and we overcame a big deficit in the championship game vs UNCW to win it all!
 
Game 1: Georgia State 6, Northeastern 5 (10 innings) - GAME RECAP
"We had some clutch guys! Marc Mimeault, Carl Moniz, Derek Simmons are just a few guys who came up big in that first game, as well as Mike McCree. We had a lot of tough games that year, which prepared us well for that tournament."
 
Game 2: Georgia State 8, UNCW 5 - GAME RECAP
"Beating UNCW was always sweet but beating them twice at their own field twice to win the championship was extra sweet. They were probably our biggest conference rivals, and to get the ring in front of them was awesome!
 
Game 3: Georgia State 9, George Mason 3 - GAME RECAP
"I remember how amazing Ryan Moore pitched that game! (Note: Moore tossed a complete-game and allowed only seven hits.) They too had a future big leaguer on the team (Justin Bour), as well as the conference player of the year, so that was a huge win for us in the terms of confidence."
 
Championship Game: Georgia State 12, UNCW 10 - GAME RECAP
"The championship game against UNCW was a crazy rollercoaster ride! I think they sent something like 14 batters to the plate in the first two innings and only scored two runs, so we felt that was a huge win for us They whole game was back and forth, and I remember a few of our young players came up huge in that game. Brandon Williams had a massive home run to give us a lead, and Theo Asher pitched beautifully, and those two guys were called on in a big way for us and delivered mightily."
 


What followed is permanently etched in Logan's memory.
 
"It's funny, I still remember to this day exactly what was going through my mind. Before Justin (Malone) got the last hitter out, I looked at the first base umpire, and he had done a ton of our games that year, and he said, 'Congrats, y'all deserve it!' I remember thinking I'm going to wait to jump on the dogpile because I didn't want to be at the bottom and get squished - LOL. So you can see in some of the championship photos I was on top of the pile - I thought that was a wise move!"
 
Logan homered in each of the four tournament games and was named the Most Outstanding Player.
 


"I just remember watching a lot of film prior to the tournament and noticed the slightest hitch in my mechanics so I worked on it all week. I wasn't having the best of years, numbers-wise, but I wanted to come up clutch when it really mattered. I remember just being insanely focused at the plate, and it paid off for my team."
 
The CAA title earned Georgia State its first trip to the NCAA Regionals. The Panthers didn't have to go far, and were able to play in front of a huge contingent of GSU fans in the NCAA Atlanta Regional across town at Georgia Tech.
 
Georgia State's first-ever NCAA tournament game was against the 13th-ranked Yellow Jackets.
 
For the fifth straight game, Logan went deep, and his home run in the second inning helped Georgia State to a 3-1 lead through four innings. Although Georgia Tech would go on to win 9-3, the Panthers had much to be proud of in their first NCAA appearance.
 
"The home run I hit at GT was awesome! It was off my buddy Deck McGuire, who was a future first-round pick in the draft. The most special part of it was as I was rounding the bases, my dad had just arrived at the game and saw me hit it while he was walking up the ramp. As I was heading to the dugout, there was a space between the netting and the dugout, and we had a cool high five and embrace, and that was super special and something I'll never forget."
 
Logan, who went to serve two years on the GSU staff in 2013-14, is excited about the future of the program.
 
"I'm sooo excited for new head coach--our hitting coach during that season--Brad Stromdahl! He's an excellent coach and a very special person. I know for a fact that he will win big time at GSU. We had an excellent, bar-setting season in 2009, but in my eyes, that was just the beginning. Brad will have the boys back there many times over the next few years, I promise you that."