Hot-Hitting Panthers Host Georgia Tuesday at Coolray Field

GEORGIA STATE (12-8, 3-0 SBC) vs. GEORGIA (13-7, 0-3 SEC)
Tuesday, March 21 | 6 p.m. | Coolray Field

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Led by National Player of the Week Dylan Strickland, Georgia State hosts Georgia Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Coolray Field, the home of the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers.

PROBABLE PITCHER: LHP Cameron Jones (1-1, 4.15) - 2x All-Sun Belt; Finalist for 2022 John Olerud Award

LEADING OFF
> Georgia State opened Sun Belt Conference play by scoring 37 runs in a three-game sweep of Troy (10-9, 15-5, 15-6), fueled by 46 hits, including 10 homers.

> The Panthers will play at Coolray Field on back-to-back Tuesdays, hosting Georgia Tech there next Tuesday, March 28.

> Sophomore infielder Dylan Strickland (Loganville High School) is the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball after going 7-for-14 with five homers, 10 RBI and nine runs scored in four games last week. He hit all five homers in the Troy sweep.

> Strickland hit five homers in a span of seven plate appearances over Games 2 and 3 vs. Troy. After homering twice in his last three at-bats in Game 2, he tied the Georgia State record with three home runs in his first four at-bats in the series finale.

> The Panthers are tied for fourth in Division I (tied with Georgia) with 45 home runs, led by Dylan Strickland with nine, JoJo Jackson and Luke Boynton with six each and Will Mize with five.

> Georgia State also ranks No. 18 in the nation in batting average (.320), No. 20 in scoring (9.0) and No. 22 in on-base percentage (.425).

> Thirteen different Panthers have hit at least one homer, including three freshmen--Michael Maginnis, Colin Hynek and Jaden Anderson--whose first career hit was a home run.

> Fourth-year head coach Brad Stromdahl is three wins from 400 career victories. Stromdahl (397-183 overall) 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).

WHO'S HOT
> Preseason All-American Max Ryerson leads the Panthers and ranks second in the Sun Belt in batting average at .419, along with four homers and 13 RBI. His .560 on-base percentage is No. 1 in the Sun Belt and No. 10 in Division I.

> National Player of the Week Dylan Strickland is hitting .407 with nine homers and 21 RBI. He is third in the Sun Belt and No. 12 in the nation in homers. Strickland also ranks third in the Sun Belt in batting average, while his .925 slugging percentage leads the conference and is No. 6 in the nation.

> Georgia State's everyday lineup has a combined total of 107 career home runs, led by Max Ryerson with 35, Luke Boynton with 18 and Will Mize with 13.

> Cameron Jones leads the Sun Belt and ranks No. 5 in Division I in stolen bases (17-20).

> Max Ryerson has reached base safely in 31 consecutive games. Cameron Jones had his streak of 32 straight games reaching base, which is tied for fifth in school history, snapped last Tuesday at Mercer. The GSU record is 41 games by Bradley Logan in 2009-10.

> Luke Boynton hit three homers in the Clemson series last weekend and is tied for second on the team with six. The junior first baseman has 18 career homers.

> Sophomore outfielder JoJo Jackson is hitting .375 with six homers and 19 RBI. He leads the team with 18 walks, and his .528 on-base percentage is third in the Sun Belt.

> Shortstop Matt Ruiz, in his first season at GSU after transferring from USF, leads the team with 22 RBI. He was 6-for-11 with a homer and five RBI in the Troy series.

SERIES NOTES
> Georgia State is hosting Georgia at Coolray Field for the second straight year. Georgia won last year's game there 10-3.

> Georgia State won back-to-back games over the Bulldogs in 2013 10-7 in Atlanta) and 2014 (3-1 in Athens). Other recent wins by the Panthers over SEC foes include wins at Vanderbilt (2021) and Ole MIss (2014 and 2017.)

> Georgia holds a 45-8 lead in the series.

> Georgia assistant coach Brock Bennett spent three years on the GSU staff in 2016-17 and 2019.

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