GEORGIA STATE (1-2) vs. GEORGIA (3-0)
Tuesday, Feb. 20 | 3 p.m. | GSU Baseball Complex

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LEADING OFF
> After winning the last meeting at Georgia last April, Georgia State hosts the Bulldogs Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the Panthers' home opener at the GSU Baseball Complex.

> Opening the season on the road for the first time since 2010, Georgia State dropped two of three at New Orleans over the weekend. The Panthers hit five homers in Friday's 12-3 win, including two by Luke Boynton.

> The Panthers have won their home opener in nine of the last 11 seasons, including last year's 12-2 win over Cincinnati. 

> 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.

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

> Under head coach fifth-year head coach Brad Stromdahl, Georgia State recorded back-to-back 30-win seasons in 2022 and 2023, a first for the program since four in a row from 2008-2011, when Stromdahl was a GSU assistant coach. The Panthers were 30-29 in 2023, including a 16-14 mark in the Sun Belt.

> 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). In his 12th season as a head coach, Stromdahl is 416-206. 

SERIES NOTES
> Redshirt freshman Jack Butler will start against the Bulldogs in his collegiate debut after missing the 2023 season due to injury. The Marietta, Ga., product led Pope High School to the 2022 Class 6A state title, earning second-team all-state honors (8-1 record, 1.85 ERA).

> Georgia and Georgia State split a pair of games last season. After Georgia won 8-3 at Coolray Field, the Panthers earned a 9-7 victory in Athens. Luke Boynton hit two homers and Will Mize homered and drove in four runs for GSU. Brady Jones pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save.

> With the win at Georgia and  the Panthers' 12-11 win over Georgia Tech, Georgia State defeated the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets in the same season for the first time since 2000. 

> Georgia is making its first visit to Panthersville since 2021 after Georgia State shifted its home games vs. the Bulldogs to Coolray Field in 2022 and 2023.

> 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 46-9 lead in the series.

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

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 had 28 homers, 83 RBI and a .303 average over the last two seasons.

> After hitting two homers on Opening Day, Boynton ranks No. 10 in GSU history with 30 career homers.

> 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 started 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).

> 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.