Panthers Host Key Sun Belt Series with Coastal Carolina

Mike Hurst Celebration at Saturday's Game

GEORGIA STATE (11-32, 6-9) vs. COASTAL CAROLINA (19-17, 3-6)
April 30-May 2 | GSU Baseball Complex

THE SERIES
Friday, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday: Fr. LHP Cameron Jones (0-6, 5.17) - CG last Friday at South Alabama
Saturday: Jr. RHP Trey Horton (0-2, 4.14) - Walk-off hit in 14th vs. Wofford in first career at-bat
Sunday: So. RHP Ryan Watson (2-4, 7.36) - 10 career victories

MIKE HURST CELEBRATION
Saturday's game will feature the Mike Hurst Celebration as Georgia State honors the life and legacy of the Panthers' long-time head coach, who passed away in February. Instrumental in building the Georgia State program, Coach Hurst won 293 games from 1993-2006 and impacted countless lives in the baseball community. His No. 30 is Georgia State's baseball's only retired number.

All former players and as well as Georgia State alumni, family and friends are invited.
Click to RSVP.

LEADING OFF
> After earning its fourth walk-off win of the season, Georgia State hosts Sun Belt Conference East Division foe Coastal Carolina for a weekend series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex. The Panthers stand three games ahead of CCU in the Sun Belt East standings.

> Tuesday's 4-3, 14-inning win over Wofford was the second-longest game in GSU history; the only longer game was a 15-inning loss at William & Mary in 2009. Trailing 2-0, the Panthers tied the game on Elian Merejo's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth. After Wofford took a 3-2 lead in the 14th, Griffin Cheney led off the home half with a single and scored on Cameron Jones' one-out double. With two outs, pitcher Trey Horton made his first career at-bat and dropped a single into shallow left field to score Jones with the winning run.

> Second baseman Griffin Cheney has started Georgia State's last 113 games at 2B, SS or 3B. In those 113 games, he has failed to reach base only 12 times.

> Over the last 20 games, Cheney is hitting .394 with a .472 on-base percentage and a perfect fielding percentage at second base.

> Also hot is sophomore outfielder Josh Smith, hitting .338 with a .412 on-base percentage, three homers and 15 RBI for the last 12 games.

> Senior left-hander Tyler Koch pitched in his 74th game last Sunday and now ranks fourth in GSU history in career appearances. The record is 92 by Jerry Stuckey (2012-15).

> #PitchersWhoRake: Friday starter Cameron Jones also plays first base and is hitting .302, including a 3-run homer in the ninth-inning comeback at App State and the game-tying double in the 14th inning vs. Wofford. But the Panthers' "leading" hitters are two other hurlers who are batting 1.000. Reliever Pablo Barquero singled at Mercer in his only career at-bat. Then Saturday starter Trey Horton made his first career at-bat in the bottom of the 14th inning vs. Wofford and singled home Jones for the winning run and a 4-3 walk-off victory.

> Fifth-year senior Elian Merejo has provided some huge hits this season:
- Walk-off single with two outs in 10th inning for 7-6 win over No. 14 West Virginia
- Two-run homer in top of 9th inning for crucial insurance runs in 4-2 win at No. 2 Vanderbilt
- Go-ahead, three-run homer in 7th inning for 7-5 win over Troy
- Game-tying two-run double in bottom of 9th vs. Wofford (GSU won 4-3 in 14)

> Sundays are for Slams: Josh Smith hit grand slams on consecutive Sundays. First he hit the go-ahead grand slam in the Panthers' nine-run, ninth-inning rally at Appalachian State, and then he hit another slam in the 17-15 win over Troy. His slam at App State earned him Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors (April 17). He is the first Panther with two grand slams in a season since Ryan Blanton in 2017.

> Georgia State won its Sun Belt Conference series against Troy with its second straight improbable Sunday comeback. Trailing 15-10, the Panthers tied the game with five runs in the eighth inning, capped by Kalen Puckett's pinch hit, two-run double, and then Kyle Riesselmann hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the 10th inning for the 17-15, series-clinching victory. Chandler Dawson finished the game with two scoreless innings to earn the win.

> The previous Sunday at Appalachian State, GSU trailed 12-6 before scoring nine runs in the ninth inning, capped by Josh Smith's go-ahead grand slam, and won 15-13. Ryan Glass started the scoring with an RBI-single, and then Cameron Jones' three-run homer, the first of his career, made it 12-10. After Dalton Pearson's RBI-single brought GSU within one, the Panthers were down to their last strike when Griffin Cheney was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then Smith hit the 1-2 pitch over the center field fence.

> In Georgia State's last five victories, the Panthers have trailed after six innings:
-Georgia Southern, 3-2: Trailing 2-1, scored 2 in 7th, including go-ahead, RBI-double by Will Mize
App State, 15-13: Trailed 12-6 in 9th, scored 9 runs, capped by Josh Smith grand slam
-Troy, 7-5: Trailing 5-3, scored 4 in 7th, including go-ahead 3-run HR by Elian Merejo.
-Troy, 17-15: Trailing 15-10, scored 5 in 8th, including Kalen Puckett 2-run double to tie. Walk-off 2-run homer by Kyle Riesselmann in 10th.
-Wofford, 4-3: Trailing 2-0, scored 2 in 9th on Elian Merejo's 2-run double. Trailing 3-2 in 14th, tied the game on Cameron Jones' RBI-double, then walked-off on RBI-single by Trey Horton.

> Georgia State played its first 14 games against ranked foes, including four victories:
No. 14 West Virginia twice, 7-6 (10) and 20-4 (home)
No. 2 Vanderbilt, 4-2 (away)
No. 10 Georgia Tech, 10-1 (away)

> The Panthers earned a Friday night, 4-2 victory at No. 2 Vanderbilt (Feb. 26), the highest-ranked team GSU has ever beaten. Previously, the highest ranked team GSU had ever defeated was No. 3 Georgia Tech in 2010, 10-1.

> In the win over Vandy, starting pitcher Ryan Watson threw five strong innings (1 run, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts) and Elian Merejo provided key insurance runs with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning. Vandy put the tying runs on base in the bottom of the ninth, but Chad Treadway recorded the final two outs for the save.

> Georgia State opened the season with a four-game series split against No. 14 West Virginia. After falling 5-3 in 10 innings on Opening Day, Georgia State swept the Saturday doubleheader with a 7-6 walk-off win on Elian Merejo's two-out single in the 10th, and then a 20-4 victory in the nightcap. GSU then held WVU to just three hits in the series finale, but the Mountaineers managed a 3-2 victory.

> The Panthers' 20-4 win in Game 3 of the WVU series represents the most runs GSU has ever scored against a ranked foe. Georgia State jumped on the Mountaineers with an 11-run first inning and never looked back.

> Second-year head coach Brad Stromdahl took over the Georgia State program in 2020 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 his last two years (2018-19). Before going to Georgia Gwinnett in November 2011, Stromdahl spent five seasons (2007-11) as an assistant coach at Georgia State.

SERIES vs. COASTAL CAROLINA
> Georgia State and Coastal Carolina are meeting for the first time since April 2019, and the Panthers won the last meeting, 15-11 at the GSU Baseball Complex.

> In that game, the Panthers rallied from a 10-5 deficit and outscored Coastal Carolina 10-1 over the final four innings. Several current Panthers figured prominently in that game:
-Elian Merejo hit two home runs and drove in seven runs, one shy of the school record.
-Trey Horton pitched the final four innings and allowed just one run to earn his first collegiate victory.
-Ryan Glass had three RBI and Griffin Cheney had three hits and two RBI.

> Coastal Carolina leads the series 7-2.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Pablo Barquero: LHP; 6' 0"; Junior; L/L

#21 Griffin Cheney: INF; 5' 11"; Junior; R/R

#34 Chandler Dawson: RHP; 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R

#31 Ryan Glass: INF; 6' 4"; Junior; R/R

#26 Trey Horton: RHP; 6' 2"; Junior; L/R

#27 Cameron Jones: LHP/OF; 6' 1"; Freshman; R/L

#23 Tyler Koch: LHP; 6' 1"; Senior; L/L

#18 Elian Merejo: C; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#14 Will Mize: INF; 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R

#6 Kalen Puckett: INF; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#3 Kyle Riesselmann: OF; 6' 3"; Freshman; R/L

#44 Josh Smith: OF; 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R

Players Mentioned

#22 Pablo Barquero
: 6' 0"; Junior; L/L
: LHP

#21 Griffin Cheney
: 5' 11"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#34 Chandler Dawson
: 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

#31 Ryan Glass
: 6' 4"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#26 Trey Horton
: 6' 2"; Junior; L/R
: RHP

#27 Cameron Jones
: 6' 1"; Freshman; R/L
: LHP/OF

#23 Tyler Koch
: 6' 1"; Senior; L/L
: LHP

#18 Elian Merejo
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: C

#14 Will Mize
: 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R
: INF

#6 Kalen Puckett
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#3 Kyle Riesselmann
: 6' 3"; Freshman; R/L
: OF

#44 Josh Smith
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R
: OF