Winners of 7 of Last 8, Panthers Host Little Rock to Open Sun Belt Play

GEORGIA STATE (11-6, 0-0) vs. LITTLE ROCK (10-5, 0-0)
March 18-20 | GSU Baseball Complex

THE SCHEDULE
Friday, March 18: 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 19: 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, March 20: 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday: GSU LHP Brandon Kaminer (1-1, 4.02)
Saturday: GSU RHP Chandler Dawson (1-1, 2.08)
Sunday: GSU RHP Dylan Matela (0-0, 6.75)

LEADING OFF

> Winners of seven of the last eight games including Tuesday's 6-1 win at No. 15 Clemson, Georgia State opens Sun Belt Conference play by hosting Little Rock at the GSU Baseball Complex.

> The win at Clemson, in which Griffin Cheney hit a school-record three homers and GSU pitchers Camren Landry, Chad Treadway and Joseph Brandon combined for 14 strikeouts, is Georgia State's fifth victory over a Top 15-ranked opponent in the last two seasons.

> The series with Little Rock matches up two of the top offensive teams in the conference:

Batting Avg.: LR-1st (.322) / GSU-2nd (.308)
HR: GSU-1st (21) / LR-3rd (14)
Scoring: GSU-3rd (6.9) / LR-3rd (6.8)

> Georgia State features the Sun Belt's top two home run hitters in Griffin Cheney (8) and Max Ryerson (6-tied with Little Rock's Noah DIckerson).

"SUPER" SUPER SENIOR GRIFFIN CHENEY

> Super senior shortstop Griffin Cheney tied the Georgia State and Sun Belt Conference records with three home runs in the Panthers' 6-1 win at No. 15 Clemson.

> Cheney hit a two-run homer down the left field line in the first inning, a solo shot to left in the third and then a mammoth solo blast in the eighth that went over the left field grandstand. He is the seventh Panther to hit three homers in a game and the first since Nic Wilson in 2014 vs. South Alabama.

> For the season, Cheney is hitting .458 with eight homers and 16 RBI. He leads the Sun Belt in homers (tied for 8th in D1), on-base percentage (.560-No. 16 in D1) and slugging (.915-No. 10 in D1) while ranking second in batting average.

JONES NAMED SUN BELT & NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

> Cameron Jones, one of the nation's top two-way players as the Panthers' starting first baseman and closer, was named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball as well as Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week

> The sophomore hit .368 (7-for-19) for the week with two homers, two doubles, six RBI and six runs scored. On the mound, the left-hander earned two two-inning saves against Wofford and Presbyterian, pitching four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and zero walks while allowing just three hits. In both saves, he entered a one-run game in the eighth inning.

> For the season, Jones is hitting .362 with two homers and 13 RBI. He is tied for the Sun Belt lead with four saves while not allowing a run in five appearances covering 8.2 innings. He has 14 strikeouts and two walks.

> Last week, Jones was named the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Week, and in 2021, he was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection as the utility player.

GEORGIA STATE vs. RANKED TEAMS

> Since the start of the 2021 season, Georgia State has knocked off five ranked teams, all ranked No. 15 or higher. Three of the five wins were on the road.

> GSU is coming off a 6-1 victory at No. 15 Clemson in which Griffin Cheney hit a school-record three home runs and the GSU pitching staff struck out 14.

> The Panthers have played 21 games vs. ranked teams in the last two seasons, including five in 2022.

> The Panthers earned four wins over ranked foes last season: No. 14 West Virginia twice, 7-6 (10) and 20-4 (home); No. 2 Vanderbilt, 4-2 (away) for the highest-ranked win in program history; and No. 10 Georgia Tech, 10-1 (away).

MORE ON THE PANTHERS

> Max Ryerson is second in the Sun Belt Conference with six home runs, seven doubles and 49 total bases. He hit two runs on Opening Weekend vs. Purdue Fort Wayne and then slugged two more at Kennesaw State. In the Sunday win over Villanova, he hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie and send the Panthers to their third straight victory. Ryerson is a junior college transfer from Gulf Coast State, where he was the 2021 Panhandle Conference Player of the Year.

> Sophomore right-hander Camren Landry has performed very as the midweek starter, compiling a 2.29 ERA with 28 strikeouts and just four walks in 19.2 innings. He earned his first victory of the season with four scoreless innings in 4-1 win at Wofford.

> In two starts against nationally-ranked ACC teams Georgia Tech and Clemson, Landry combined to pitch 10.1 innings with 17 srikeouts and just one earned run allowed. In the win at No. 15 Clemson, he allowed one run in 4.1 innings with eight strikeouts. Against No. 10 Georgia Tech, he struck out nine in six innings while allowing just four hits and zero earned runs. His nine strikeouts are the most by any Panther hurler since Hunter Gaddis in 2019.

> Super senior infielder DeAngelo Abboud is riding a nine-game hitting streak. In last Sunday's series-clinching win over Presbyterian, Abboud went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. His 2-run homer in the fourth inning, his first of the season, tied the game at 4-all, and then his RBI-single in the seventh broke a 6-6 tie and put the Panthers ahead for good.

> Third-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. LITTLE ROCK

> Georgia State won two of three from Little Rock last season in Atlanta. On the final weekend of the regular season, Little Rock won Game 1 7-3, but the Panthers rebounded to win 5-0 and 11-10. Four pitchers combined for the 3-hit shutout in Game 2, including current Panthers Chad Treadway, Chandler Dawson and Ryan Watson. In Game 3, Cameron Jones drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and Watson saved his second straight game.

> The Trojans are playing in Atlanta for the second consecutive year, after Georgia State made three straight trips to Little Rock in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

> The teams have played 19 times since GSU joined the Sun Belt in 2014, but only six of the games have been in Atlanta. Georgia State leads 4-2 on its home field, but Little Rock leads the overall series 13-6.

> The Panthers are opening their Sun Belt slate at home for the first time since 2017.

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Players Mentioned

#7 Joseph Brandon: RHP; 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R

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

#22 Hunter Gaddis: RHP; 6' 6"; Junior; R/R

#25 Ryan Watson: RHP; 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R

#8 DeAngelo Abboud: INF; 5' 9"; Senior; R/R

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

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

#18 Camren Landry: RHP; 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R

#40 Dylan Matela: RHP; 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R

#20 Chad Treadway: RHP; 6' 1"; Sophomore; L/R

#45 Brandon Kaminer: LHP; 6' 3"; Graduate Student; L/L

#23 Max Ryerson: OF; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#7 Joseph Brandon
: 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

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

#22 Hunter Gaddis
: 6' 6"; Junior; R/R
: RHP

#25 Ryan Watson
: 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

#8 DeAngelo Abboud
: 5' 9"; Senior; R/R
: INF

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

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

#18 Camren Landry
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#40 Dylan Matela
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#20 Chad Treadway
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; L/R
: RHP

#45 Brandon Kaminer
: 6' 3"; Graduate Student; L/L
: LHP

#23 Max Ryerson
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: OF