Dylan Strickland
Arsenio Wallington
6
Troy TROY 13-7, 0-3 Sun Belt
12
Winner Georgia State GSU 12-8, 3-0 Sun Belt
Troy TROY
13-7, 0-3 Sun Belt
6
Final
12
Georgia State GSU
12-8, 3-0 Sun Belt
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Troy TROY 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 6 9 1
Georgia State GSU 4 2 1 0 5 0 0 0 X 12 18 1

W: Acosta, Rafael (1-0) L: Stewart, Grayson (3-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Strickland Ties GSU Record with 3 Homers as Panthers Sweep Troy

ATLANTA -- Dylan Strickland tied the Georgia State record with three home runs to lead the Panthers to a 12-6 win over Troy Sunday, completing a three-game Sun Belt Conference sweep at the GSU Baseball Complex.

Strickland, the sophomore from Loganville High School, also homered twice yesterday, giving him five home runs in a stretch of seven plate appearances. He now leads the team with nine on the season.

Georgia State (12-8, 3-0 Sun Belt) scored 37 runs in the series, fueled by 46 hits with 10 homers, including five today as Colin Hynek and Dalton Pearson also went deep.

"It feels great to be 3-0 in conference," head coach Brad Stromdahl said. "Of course Dylan Strickland had an amazing weekend, but everybody in the lineup had a hit today. One through nine, everybody is doing their job and then handing the baton to the next guy. Great team baseball."

Strickland wasted no time today, leading off the game with a solo homer to center field to spark a 4-run first inning that gave the Panthers a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish. Luke Boynton had an RBI-single up the middle, Will Mize just missed a homer but settled for a run-scoring double off the wall, and Pearson legged out an infield single to bring home one more.

Strickland led off the second inning as well, and this time he went to left field for his second long ball of the day. Then Boynton picked up is second RBI with a bloop double to right field to put GSU up 6-3.

"We've put him in the leadoff spot to give him as many at-bats as possible, and we'll ride him as long as we can," Stromdahl said.

Pearson hit his first homer of the season with a solo shot in the third to extend the lead to 7-3. The junior center fielder is the 13th different Panthers to homer this season.

Georgia State broke the game open with five runs in the fifth. After one run scored on an error, Hynek, the freshman catcher, belted a 3-run homer, his fourth of the season, to center for an 11-3 lead.

That brought Strickland to the plate again, and he did it one more time, sending his third solo homer of the day over the left field wall. He is the eighth Panther to hit three home runs in a game, a feat most recently accomplished last season by Griffin Cheney in a win at Clemson.

GSU starter Rafael Acosta (1-0) turned in five solid innings to earn his first winning, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Duncan Lutz and Aidan McAllister closed out the game on the mound.

Troy fell to 13-7, 0-3 in the Sun Belt.

Georgia State hosts Georgia Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Coolray Field, home of the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, in Lawrenceville, Ga.


 

 
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