Baseball 4/17/2023 2:15:00 PM

Busy Week as Panthers Play at Tech Tuesday, Host Mercer Wednesday

GEORGIA STATE (18-18) at GEORGIA TECH (20-16)
Tuesday, April 18 | 8 p.m. | Mac Nease Ballpark

WATCH: ACC Network

After winning four of their last five games, Georgia State plays a pair of midweek games, beginning Tuesday with an 8 p.m. contest at Georgia Tech on the ACC Network. The Panthers then host Mercer Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex.

LEADING OFF
> The Panthers are coming off a series win over Arkansas State.

> Georgia State won the first meeting against Georgia Tech with a 12-11 walk-off victory in 14 innings at Coolray Field on March 28. Will Mize drove in the tying run with a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth, and shortstop Matt Ruiz scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Mize, Dylan Strickland and Max Ryerson homered for GSU.

> The Panthers have defeated Tech in each of the last three seasons.

> Georgia State is No. 1 in the Sun Belt and No. 5 in Division I with 71 home runs, led by Luke Boynton with 11, Dylan Strickland with 10, and JoJo Jackson and Max Ryerson with nine each.

> The Panthers' total of 71 home runs is the fifth-highest season total in program history. The GSU season record is 82, set in 2010. The next best season totals are 77 (2000), 75 (2022) and 74 (2009).

> Georgia State also ranks in the top three in the Sun Belt in batting average, scoring, on-base percentage, slugging and stolen bases.

> Sixteen 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. Seven different players have hit six or more homers.

> Max Ryerson leads the Sun Belt in batting average at .405 and on-base percentage at .521. He has nine homers and 25 RBI, and his OPS is 1.197.

> Ryan Watson earned his 16th career victory last Friday vs. Arkansas State to move into a tie for fourth place in GSU history. The super senior right-hander also became Georgia State's career leader in combined wins (16) and saves (12) with 28.

> Fourth-year head coach Brad Stromdahl earned his 400th career victory vs. James Madison on April 8. Stromdahl (403-193 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
> Cameron Jones leads the Sun Belt and ranks No. 4 in Division I in stolen bases with 27. That is the second-highest season figure in program history, seven behind the school record.

GSU SEASON STOLEN BASES SB
1. Jimmy Fowlkes (1980) - 34
2. Cameron Jones (2023) - 27

> Jones stole four bases in Game 1 at James Madison, coming within one of the school record of five, set by Henry Reese vs. Samford in 1985.

> Luke Boynton's 11th homer was a grand slam in Friday's win over Arkansas State as he took over the team lead. He hit three homers in the Clemson series and two in the Coastal Carolina series. The junior first baseman has 23 career homers.

> Dylan Strickland was named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball and Sun Belt Conference POTW on March 20 after going 7-for-14 with five homers, 10 RBI and nine runs scored in four games. 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.

> On the season, Strickland is hitting .361 with 10 homers and 27 RBI. He is eighth in the Sun Belt in average and homers.

> Starting pitcher Rafael Acosta has a 2.00 ERA for his last three starts. The senior right-hander has allowed just four runs in 18.0 innings with 14 strikeouts vs. Coastal Carolina, James Madison and Arkansas State. He earned the win at JMU with a career-long outing of 7.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts in the 3-1 victory.

> Freshman reliever Brady Jones pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning in 3-1 win at James Madison to earn his first career save, and then added his second save in Game 3 vs. Arkansas State.

> Shortstop Mat Ruiz, the transfer from USF, and third baseman Will Mize share the team lead in RBI with 33. Both also have six homers.

> Sophomore outfielder JoJo Jackson is hitting .317 with nine homers and 28 RBI. He is fourth in the Sun Belt with 28 walks.

SERIES NOTES
> Georgia State has defeated Georgia Tech in each of the last seasons. The Panthers won at Tech the last two years, 10-1 in 2021 and 9-5 last season, before this year's 12-11, 14-inning win at Coolray Field.

> Brad Stromdahl is 3-2 against Tech as a head coach, and during his tenure as a GSU assistant coach, he helped the Panthers to three wins over the Jackets (2007, 2009 and 2011), all on the road and all over ranked Tech teams.

> The two Atlanta schools have met 84 times since 1971, including every year since Georgia State reinstated its program in 1992 through 2019. They did not meet in the abbreviated 2020 season. Georgia Tech leads the series 70-14.

GSU'S RECENT WINS OVER GEORGIA TECH
3-21-07 (@GT) GSU 9, No.15 GT 5
3-24-09 (@GT) GSU 10, No. 3 GT 1
3-2-11 (@GT) GSU 6, No. 23 GT 3
3-7-12 (@GSU) GSU 5, No. 10 GT 4
4-11-18 (@GT) GSU 5, GT 2
3-4-21 (@GT) GSU 10, No. 10 GT 1
4-12-22 (@GT) GSU 9, GT 5
3-28-23 (@Coolray) GSU 12, GT 11 (14)

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Players Mentioned

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

#33 Rafael Acosta: RHP; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#3 Luke Boynton: INF; 6' 5"; Junior; R/R

#22 Colin Hynek: C; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman; R/R

#42 JoJo Jackson: OF; 6' 2"; Sophomore; S/L

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

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

#23 Max Ryerson: OF; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#10 Dylan Strickland: INF; 5' 11"; Junior; R/R

#11 Brady Jones: INF/RHP; 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R

#21 Matt Ruiz: INF; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#24 Michael Maginnis: INF; 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

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

#33 Rafael Acosta
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#3 Luke Boynton
: 6' 5"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#22 Colin Hynek
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman; R/R
: C

#42 JoJo Jackson
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; S/L
: OF

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

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

#23 Max Ryerson
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#10 Dylan Strickland
: 5' 11"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#11 Brady Jones
: 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R
: INF/RHP

#21 Matt Ruiz
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#24 Michael Maginnis
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Freshman; R/R
: INF