GEORGIA STATE (23-26, 11-13) at COASTAL CAROLINA (28-20, 11-13)
May 10-12 | Springs Brooks Stadium, Conway, S.C.

THE SERIES
Friday, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

LEADING OFF
> Leading the Sun Belt Conference with 83 home runs, Georgia State makes its final conference road trip this weekend with a series at Coastal Carolina, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.

> Third baseman Will Mize is the Panthers' top hitter on the season at .344 on a Sun Belt-leading 74 hits (No. 19 in DI). He leads the team with 13 homers and 51 RBI.

> Mize is riding an 18-game hitting streak, the longest by a Panthers since 2013 and tied for the seventh-longest in school history. The record is 22 games by Bradley Logan in 2008.

> During the streak, Mize is hitting .390 with five homers, 10 doubles, a triple and 21 RBI.

> Center fielder Matt Ruiz had five homers and 12 RBI in five games last week:

Solo HR vs. Jacksonville State
Go-ahead, 3-run HR in 9th inning at Mercer
2-run HR and RBI-single vs. Marshall Friday
2-run HR & 3-run HR vs. Marshall Sunday

> Georgia State leads the Sun Belt and ranks No. 30 in Division I with 83 home runs, the second-most in school history. Last year's squad hit a GSU record 110 homers.

> Will Mize leads the team with 13 homers, while Ryan Dyal has 11, JoJo Jackson and Michael Maginnis are at 10, Brennan Hudson has nine, Luke Boynton eight and Jesse Donohoe six.

> The Panthers have hit 268 homers since the start of the 2022 season (1.62 per game) 
GSU'S TOP SEASON HOME RUN TOTALS
110    2023 (59 games)    No. 14 in D1
83    2024 (49 games)    No. 30 in D1
82    2010 (58 games)
77    2000 (59 games)
75    2022 (57 games)
74    2009 (61 games)

> Brennan Hudson was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on April 15. The sophomore catcher-first baseman hit .571 with an eye-popping 1.914 OPS, including a walk-off homer. He was 8-for-14 on the week with three homers, six RBI and nine runs scored. He also drew five walks for a .700 on-base percentage in the four games.

> Hudson, hitting .324 with nine homers, is third in the Sun Belt with a .503 on-base percentage, including a team-leading 34 walks, and second in the league with an OPS of 1.105.

> In last Wednesday's 14-11 win at Mercer, the Panthers trailed 8-1 after three innings and 11-9 after eight before scoring five runs in the ninth. Will MIze hit a 2-run homer to tie the game, and with two outs, Matt Ruiz hit a pinch-hit, 3-run homer for the lead. 

> Three current Panthers rank in the Top 20 in school history in career homers. Luke Boynton has moved up to No. 6 with 36 career homers. Will Mize is 11th with 30, and JoJo Jackson has climbed into the Top 20 with 25. 

> Georgia State scored 46 runs, including 12 homers, both program records for a Sun Belt Conference series, to take two of three games from Southern Miss. Brennan Hudson (8-11, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2.345 OPS) and outfielder Michael Maginnis (7-14, 3 HR, 8 RBI) combined for six home runs and 14 RBI in the three games. Maximus Martin (7-for-13, six runs scored) and Ryan Dyal (5-for-11, two homers, seven RBI) also had big series.

> 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.

THE ELDER STATESMAN 
> The veteran of the GSU squad as a fifth-year senior, third baseman Will Mize is the 13th player in GSU history to record at least 200 career hits, 100 RBI and 100 runs scored. 

> Mize has a .312 career batting average and is climbing Georgia State's career lists in numerous offensive categories:

Hits: 243 (T-5th)
HR: 30 (11th)
2B: 49 (6th)
RBI: 155 (6th)
Runs: 130 (T-10th)
Total Bases: 386 (5th)
At-Bats: 780 (6th)
Games: 212 (T-7th)
Games Started: 191

SERIES NOTES
> Coastal Carolina holds a 13-6 lead in the series, which began in 2017 when the Chanticleers joined the Sun Belt. Coastal captured all three games in Atlanta last season and won 5-4 in the conference tournament. 

> Georgia State is 4-2 at Conway, including a series sweep at Coastal in 2022, when the Panthers won 14-8, 7-6 and 5-4.

> Not counting last year's meeting in the Sun Belt Conference tournament, the visiting team has won the last eight campus games in the series.