Panthers Head to James Madison for Thursday-Saturday Series

GEORGIA STATE (14-15, 4-5) at JAMES MADISON (17-11, 3-4)
April 6-8 | Veterans Memorial Park, Harrisonburg, Va.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Thursday, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

LEADING OFF
> Georgia State hits the road for a Sun Belt Conference series at James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va. The Easter weekend series will be played Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

> The Panthers are facing James Madison for the first time since 2013, when both schools were in the Colonial Athletic Association.

> Georgia State is No. 1 in the Sun Belt and No. 5 in Division I with 61 home runs, led by Dylan Strickland with 10, Luke Boynton with nine, JoJo Jackson with eight and Max Ryerson with seven.

> The Panthers' total of 61 home runs is already 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 30 nationally in scoring (24th), batting average (26th), slugging (13th) and on-base percentage (29th).

> Max Ryerson (.409) and Dylan Strickland (.396) rank 1-2 in the Sun Belt in batting average.

> Fifteen 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 one win from 400 career victories. Stromdahl (399-190 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
> 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 .396 with 10 homers and 27 RBI. He is second in the Sun Belt in average and sixth in homers.

> Preseason All-American Max Ryerson leads the Sun Belt with a .409 batting average, along with seven homers and 21 RBI. Ryerson is second in the conference with a .526 on-base percentage.

> Ryerson ranks ninth in GSU history with 29 homers in two seasons for the Panthers. Add his one season at Charleston Southern, and he has 38 career long balls, tied for 13th among active Division I players.

> Cameron Jones is second in the Sun Belt and No. 10 in Division I in stolen bases (20).

> Luke Boynton, who hit three homers in the Clemson series and two in the Coastal Carolina series, is second on the team with nine home runs. The junior first baseman has 21 career homers.

> Third baseman Will Mize is hitting .327 with six homers and a team-leading 31 RBI.

> Shortstop Matt Ruiz had four hits, three RBI and four runs scored in the win over Georgia Tech. He had a solo homer in the second, run-scoring double in the third, and an RBI groundout in the eighth. In the 14th, he singled with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third and then scored the winning run on wild pitch.

> Sophomore outfielder JoJo Jackson is hitting .322 with eight homers and 25 RBI. He is fourth in the Sun Belt with 23 walks.

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Players Mentioned

#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

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

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

#38 Jaden Anderson: OF-LHP; 5' 9"; Freshman; R/L

Players Mentioned

#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

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

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

#38 Jaden Anderson
: 5' 9"; Freshman; R/L
: OF-LHP