Final Home Stand Opens Tuesday vs. Wofford

GEORGIA STATE (24-25) vs. WOFFORD (33-14)
Tuesday, May 8 | 4 p.m. | GSU Baseball Complex

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Georgia State opens it final home stand of the season with a midweek test against Wofford Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex. Then the Panthers close their home slate this weekend against Georgia Southern before finishing the regular season next weekend at Old Dominion.

LEADING OFF
> Georgia State is No. 7 in Division I with a school-record 96 home runs, led by Luke Boynton and Max Ryerson with 15 each, Dylan Strickland with 12 and JoJo Jackson with 11. The Panthers have already broken the previous school record of 82, set in 2010. GSU hit 75 homers in 2022, giving them 171 over the last two seasons.

> The Panthers will face a Wofford team that leads the nation in sacrifice hits and is in the Top 10 in batting average, scoring and stolen bases.

> Max Ryerson is second in the Sun Belt in batting average at .380 and fourth in on-base percentage at .495. He has 15 homers and 40 RBI. He is tied for eighth among active D1 players with 46 career home runs.

> Friday starter Ryan Watson has won three straight decisions to improve to 5-1 and earn his 18th career victory, good for fourth in GSU history. The super senior right-hander also ranks third in Panther annals with 12 career saves. He is Georgia State's career leader in combined wins (18) and saves (12) with 30.

> Fourth-year head coach Brad Stromdahl earned his 400th career victory vs. James Madison on April 8. Stromdahl (409-200 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. 7 in Division I in stolen bases with 32. That is the second-highest season figure in program history, two behind the school record (34 by Jimmy Fowlkes in 1980).

> 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.

> Jones has been hot at the plate, hitting .477 for his last 14 games a .596 on-base percentage.

> Junior first baseman Luke Boynton hit his 15th home run at Texas State to share the team lead with Max Ryerson. Boynton hit two homers in last week's win at Georgia, and then followed with another blast against Marshall. He hit three homers in the Clemson series and two in the Coastal Carolina series, and he hit a grand slam in the Friday win over Arkansas State. The junior first baseman has 27 career homers, 10th in GSU history.

> 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.

> Strickland hit the game-tying grand slam in the seventh inning in the 7-6 win over Marshall, in which the Panthers rallied from a 6-0 deficit with a seven-run seventh.

> On the season, Strickland is hitting .311 with 12 homers and 36 RBI.

> Third baseman Will Mize homered and drove in four runs in the win at Georgia. He hit the go-ahead, solo homer in the fourth inning of the 5-1, sweep-clinching win over Marshall, and he hit a game-tying homer in the eighth inning at Texas State. He is hitting .317 with nine home runs and a team-leading 42 RBI.

> Shortstop Matt Ruiz, the transfer from USF, has 22 extra base hits: 10 doubles, four triples and eight homers. He is hitting .301 with 42 RBI.

> Sophomore outfielder JoJo Jackson went 6-for-10 with two homers and six RBI in the sweep of Marshall. He hit two homers in the Friday win, drove in the Panthers' first run to start their seven-run rally in the seventh inning of Game 2 and then had an RBI-single in Game 3. For the season, he is hitting .324 with 11 homers and 35 RBI. He leads the team with 34 walks.

> Freshman closer Brady Jones has four saves on the season. In the 9-7 win at Georgia, he struck out Charlie Condon, one of the top hitters in the SEC, with the tying run at second base to end the game. Then he saved the Panthers' 7-6 win over Marshall by pitching scoreless eighth and ninth innings with three strikeouts.

> Seventeen 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 players have eight or more homers.

SERIES NOTES
> Georgia State and Wofford are playing for the third straight year, with the Panthers winning both matchups.

> Last season, the Panthers earned a 4-1 win at Wofford behind strong pitching from Camren Landry and Cameron Jones.

> In 2021, Georgia State won 4-3 in 14 innings at the GSU Baseball Complex. After Wofford took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 14th, Cameron Jones' RBI-double tied the game, and then pitcher Trey Horton delivered a walk-off single in his only career at-bat.

> The Panthers have won four in a row and leads the series 9-5.

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Players Mentioned

#26 Trey Horton: RHP; 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R

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

#18 Camren Landry: RHP; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#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

Players Mentioned

#26 Trey Horton
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#25 Ryan Watson
: 6' 2"; Freshman; 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

#18 Camren Landry
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: RHP

#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