ATLANTA -- The Georgia State baseball program leads the Sun Belt Conference with five players ranked among the league's Top 25 prospects for the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft, according to rankings published by Perfect Game.

Infielder Will Mize, outfielder Josh Smith, right-handed pitchers Ryan Watson and Dylan Matela and lefty Dawson Sweatt were all rated on this prestigious list as the Panthers paced the conference, ahead of Coastal Carolina and Troy with four players each.

Mize, the sophomore infielder, is No. 2 on the list. Watson, the Panthers' top returning pitcher, checks in at No. 10, and right behind him is the all-conference outfielder Smith at No. 11. Matela at No. 14 and Sweatt at No. 22 round out the Georgia State contingent.

Perfect Game also recognized Smith and pitcher-first baseman Cameron Jones on its preseason All-Sun Belt team.

The 2022 college baseball season opens three weeks from today on Friday, Feb. 18, when the Panthers host Purdue Fort Wayne at 3 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex to start a four-game weekend series.

Official team practice began today as the Panthers held their first preseason intrasquad scrimmage. The team will scrimmage again Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m.