GEORGIA STATE (8-8) vs. No. 20 SOUTH CAROLINA (13-3)
Tuesday, March 12 | 7 p.m. | SRP Park, North Augusta, S.C.

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LEADING OFF
> In its final non-conference game before opening Sun Belt Conference play this weekend, Georgia State faces No. 20 South Carolina Tuesday at 7 p.m. at SRP Park in North Augusta, S.C., the home of Atlanta Braves Class A affiliate Augusta GreenJackets.  

> The Panthers had their six-game winning streak snapped with a doubleheader loss to Army on Sunday. 

> Georgia State is playing at least one regular-season game in a minor league park for the third straight year. The Panthers have played three games at Coolray Field, the home of the Triple A Gwinnett Stripers, the last two seasons against Georgia (2022 and 2023) and Georgia Tech (2023). GSU knocked off Tech last season at Coolray, 12-11 in 14 innings. In addition, the Sun Belt Conference Championship will be played at Riverwalk Stadium, home of the Double A Montgomery Biscuits, for the fourth straight year.

> Third baseman Will Mize is the Panthers' top hitter, leading the team with a .343 average, six homers and 15 RBI. The fifth-year senior has caught fire over the last eight games, hitting .472 with six homers and 14 RBI in that span.

> Georgia State has hit 29 homers on the season to rank No. 19 in Division I. Three Panthers have five or more homers: Will Mize (6), Ryan Dyal (6) and Luke Boynton (5) 

> Boynton has moved up to No. 7 in GSU history with 33 career homers, while Mize is in the Top 20 with 23.

> 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). 

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

> Senior Ryan Dyal, a transfer from Auburn, has been the most impactful newcomer in the lineup with six home runs and 14 RBI (second on team). The versatile left-handed hitter can catch or play the outfield.

> Sophomore Brennan Hudson has earned playing time with hot hitting in the last week. The left-handed hitting catcher/first baseman hit two huge homers last week. First, in last Wednesday's win over Mercer, he hit a 2-run homer in the sixth inning to pull GSU within 4-3 before the Panthers went on two win 6-4. Then he hit a 2-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth for Saturday's 12-11 win over Army.

> Under 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 423-212. 

SERIES NOTES
> Georgia State and South Carolina are meeting for the first time since 2009, when the Gamecocks won 2-0 in Columbia. South Carolina leads the series 5-4. 

> The teams met six times from 1979 through 1982, with Georgia State winning four of those games. Then South Carolina swept a pair of games in Columbia in 1998.

> Georgia State has recorded five wins over nationally-ranked teams since 2021. The Panthers won at No. 2 Vanderbilt in 2021, marking the highest-ranked opponent that GSU has ever beaten. Georgia State also defeated No. 14 West Virginia twice (2021), No. 10 Georgia Tech (2021) and No. 15 Clemson (2022). All were on the road except the two West Virginia wins.

> The Panthers annually play various SEC teams, including Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. In recent years, the Panthers have recorded wins over Georgia (2023, 2013 and 2014), Vanderbilt (2021) and Ole Miss (2014 and 2017).