GEORGIA STATE at NEW ORLEANS
Feb. 16-18 | Maestri Field | New Orleans, La.
 
* Please note, first pitch for Friday's opener has been moved up to 4 p.m. ET

THE SERIES (Probable Starting Pitcher)
Game 1: Friday, 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+ (LHP Rob Evans)
Game 2: Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (RHP Ross Norman)
Game 3: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+ (RHP Tyler Roche)

LEADING OFF
> Opening the season on the road for the first time since 2010, Georgia State plays at New Orleans Friday through Sunday. Opening Day is scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET at Maestri Field.

> The Panthers have won their Opening Day game in nine of the last 11 seasons, including last year's 12-2 win over Cincinnati. The last time GSU opened on the road was a 2010 series at No. 5 Florida State. The Panthers were 30-29, including a 16-14 mark in the Sun Belt.

> Under head coach Brad Stromdahl, Georgia State has recorded back-to-back 30-win seasons, a first for the program since four in a row from 2008-2011, when Stromdahl was a GSU assistant coach.

> Georgia State ranked No. 14 in Division I with a school-record 110 home runs in 2023. The Panthers return 79 of those homers, including five players who hit 10 or more in 2023: Luke Boynton (16), JoJo Jackson (13), Dylan Strickland (12), Matt Ruiz (10) and Colin Hynek (10). The current roster has combined for 132 career homers.

> The Panthers hit 75 homers in 2022, giving them 185 over the last two seasons.

> The GSU pitching staff has recorded over 500 strikeouts each of the last two seasons, including a school-record 505 in 2022, followed by 503 in 2023.

> Georgia State features much more experience among position players than on the mound, where the Panthers return only five starts, none on the weekend.

> Fifth-year head coach Brad Stromdahl 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). Entering his 12th season as a head coach, Stromdahl is 415-204. 

> Former Major League pitcher Chad Bell is in his second season as the Panthers' pitching coach. Bell played 10 seasons of pro ball, reaching the Majors with the Detroit Tigers in 2017-18. 

TOP RETURNEES
> Senior first baseman Luke Boynton ranked No. 10 in the Sun Belt with 16 home runs in 2023, along with 12 doubles for a team-leading 28 extra-base hits. He has 28 homers, 83 RBI and a .303 average over the last two seasons.

> Shortstop Matt Ruiz made a big impact in his first season at Georgia State, hitting .308 with 10 homers and 49 RBI while playing excellent defense. The USF transfer led the team with 57 runs scored and was second in RBI and stolen bases (13-for-17).

> Switch-hitting outfielder JoJo Jackson enjoyed a breakout sophomore season, when he was Georgia State's third-leading hitter with a .319 average, along with 13 homers, 10 doubles and 41 RBI. He third on the team with a .437 on-base pct., including 36 walks, and was 8-for-9 on stolen bases. He reached base in 23 consecutive games.

> Dylan Strickland hit .302 with 12 homers and 38 RBI while splitting time between second base, left field and DH in 2023. He was named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball and Sun Belt Conference POTW on March 20, 2023 after going 7-for-14 with five homers, 10 RBI and nine runs scored in four games, including five homers in a span of seven plate appearances vs. Troy. 

> Senior third baseman Will Mize, the veteran of the GSU squad, hit .308 with nine homers and 49 RBI in 2023. He has a .299 average, 17 homers and 104 RBI in 163 career games for the Panthers (142 starts).

> Mize and RHP Duncan Lutz are the only two Panthers remaining from Brad Stromdahl's first season, the CoVID-shortened 2020 spring.

> Sophomore right-hander Brady Jones is the Panthers' top returnee on the mound. Pitching out of the bullpen as a freshman, he was 2-2 with four saves.

IMPACT NEWCOMERS
> Newcomers should have the biggest impact on the mound, where the Panthers have added 12 new faces, including eight transfers and four freshmen.

> The Panthers will start three newcomers in the rotation this weekend in junior college transfer Rob Evans (Chipola), freshman Ross Norman (Ringgold, Ga., High School) and four-year transfer Tyler Roche (St. John's).

> Also among the newcomers on the pitching staff is Keegan Rich, who faces his former team after transferring from New Orleans.

> Top position players in the incoming class include center fielder Henry Koehler, a grad transfer from Davidson, left-handed hitting catcher Ryan Dyal from Auburn and infielder Maximus Martin from Rutgers.

SERIES NOTES
> Georgia State and New Orleans are meeting for the second time following a four-game series at UNO in 2013. The Panthers won three out of four, but all four games were decided by one run, including two extra-inning contests.