Georgia State University Athletics

Since joining the Georgia State staff in 2019 as the head coach for baseball, Brad Stromdahl has worked to transform the Panther program, creating a winning culture and building the foundation for success.
    
Before he was introduced as the 10th head baseball coach in GSU history on June 26, 2019, the former Panthers’ assistant built an NAIA powerhouse at Georgia Gwinnett College, and in 11 seasons as a head coach, he has produced 10 winning seasons and won 67 percent of his games with a career mark of 415-204. 
    
Stromdahl has guided Georgia State to back-to-back 30-win seasons, a first for the program since four in a row from 2008-11, when he was a GSU assistant coach.
    
The 2023 season saw the Panthers collect 30 victories, including a program-record 16 Sun Belt Conference 16 wins. The successful campaign was fueled by an offense that smashed a school-record 110 home runs to rank No. 14 in Division I. All-Sun Belt slugger Max Ryerson had his second-straight 20-homer season, finishing second in program history with 42 long balls. Two-way standout Cameron Jones earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors for the third straight year, and  senior pitcher Ryan Watson also garnered all-conference recognition.
    
In another benchmark for Stromdahl’s Panthers, Georgia State knocked off in-state foes Georgia and Georgia Tech in the same season for the first time since 2000.
    
In 2022, Stromdahl led the Panthers to a 30-27 overall record and 15-15 mark in the Sun Belt for their first winning season since 2015. GSU belted 75 home runs--then the third-highest figure in school history--while the pitching staff set a program record with 505 strikeouts. 
    
Max Ryerson broke the Georgia State season record and led the Sun Belt with 22 homers while becoming Georgia State’s first All-American since 2014. The junior outfielder was also named Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year. Shortstop Griffin Cheney added 16 homers to earn all-conference and all-region honors, while Cameron Jones was one of five finalists for the John Olerud Award as the nation’s top two-way player while earning first-team All-Sun Belt honors for the second straight year.
    
Following the season, the former walk-on Cheney was drafted in the ninth round by the Texas Rangers to become the third-highest draft pick in program history, and pitcher Seth Clark signed a free agent contract, also with the Rangers.
    
Stromdahl’s first season at the helm of the GSU program was cut short in 2020, but he and his staff immediately made an impact on the field and the recruiting trail.
    
The Stromdahl Era got off to an impressive start as his Panthers earned a walk-off victory over 2019 NCAA Regional participant Cincinnati on Opening Day 2020 and followed with victories over St. John’s and St. Peter’s. After the 3-0 start, GSU received votes in the national polls.
    
The Panthers went on to compile a 9-7 record in the shortened season. Outfielder Elian Merejo was selected as the breakout player in the Sun Belt Conference after hitting .407 with five homers and 13 RBI in 16 games. Shortstop Will Mize and right-handed pitcher Chad Treadway were named to Collegiate Baseball’s Freshman All-American team.
    
The 2021 season saw Stromdahl’s Panthers make more huge strides while playing perhaps the most difficult non-conference schedule in the nation with 20 games against teams from the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big 12 Conferences. GSU opened the season with 14 straight games against nationally-ranked, Power 5 foes.
    
Despite a roster dominated by freshmen and sophomores, Georgia State emerged from that gauntlet with four victories over Top 15 opponents, highlighted by a stunning victory at No. 2 Vanderbilt that is the highest ranked win in program history. The Panthers also knocked off No. 10 Georgia Tech and earned back-to-back wins over No. 14 West Virginia.
    
That grueling non-conference slate prepared the squad for a strong finish in the Sun Belt Conference as the Panthers reached .500 in league play for the first time and earned their first victory in the conference tournament since 2015. 
    
Two-way standout Cameron Jones and outfielder Josh Smith were named to the 2021 All-Sun Belt team, and pitcher Tyler Koch signed a professional contract with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association.
    
After starting the Georgia Gwinnett program from scratch in 2013, Stromdahl compiled a 328-104 record in seven seasons as head coach at the Lawrenceville, Ga., school, averaging 47 wins per season. He earned his first head coaching position after five seasons (2007-11) as an assistant coach at Georgia State, serving as recruiting coordinator and hitting instructor during the Panthers’ most successful run.
    
Stromdahl’s Grizzlies posted four 50-win seasons, reached the Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series three times, claimed the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA coaches’ poll, captured four Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) titles and boasted an NAIA Player of the Year. Nine Grizzlies were drafted by Major League Baseball organizations in his final six years at GGC.
    
Stromdahl earned A.I.I. Coach of the Year honors in five of his seven seasons at GGC: 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015 and 2014.
    
Stromdahl and the Grizzlies made back-to-back trips to the Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, in his last two seasons, reaching the semifinals in both 2018 and 2019. The Grizzlies finished the 2019 season ranked No. 4 in the NAIA with a 48-13 record. Three players garnered NAIA All-America accolades, and two Grizzlies were selected in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft with Cam Coursey going in the 13th round to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Matthew Swain in the 23rd round to the Minnesota Twins.
    
In 2018 Stromdahl led GGC to a 50-12 record season and a berth in Avista-NAIA World Series. His 2016 squad won a school-record 57 games and climbed to No. 1 in the NAIA for the second straight year after opening the season with 25 straight wins, after his 2015 team, featuring NAIA Player of the Year Ty Abbott, earned the program’s first No. 1 ranking. That team finished 50-14 with an offense that was No 1 in the nation in stolen bases and No. 2 in runs scored and a pitching staff that led the NAIA in strikeouts.
    
Stromdahl guided Georgia Gwinnett to its first Avista-NAIA World Series in 2014, the program’s second year of existence and first year of postseason eligibility and less than 10 years after the school opened its doors. The Grizzlies posted a 53-13 record with two wins over eventual NAIA champion Cumberland while leading the nation in triples and ranking second in 11 statistical categories, including runs scored (589), hits (723) and stolen bases (201). The squad reached No. 4 in the national poll before ending the year at No. 7, and Stromdahl was named Coach of the Year by the A.I.I, ABCA NAIA East Region and the Georgia Dugout Club. Eight players earned all-conference honors with Tyler Carpenter named honorable mention All-America.
    
Carpenter was also one of three Grizzlies to be selected in the 2014 MLB Draft, going in the 25th round to the Los Angeles Angels. He was joined by 23rd-round picks John Fidanza (Arizona) and Zeke McGranahan (Baltimore).
    
Stromdahl was tabbed as Georgia Gwinnett’s first head coach in the fall of 2011, and when the Grizzlies played their inaugural season in 2013, he directed a 30-win campaign, including two wins over ranked opponents.
    
During his five-year tenure as an assistant at Georgia State (2007-11), Stromdahl helped the Panthers average more than 35 victories over his final four seasons, highlighted by the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association title and NCAA Atlanta Regional berth--both firsts for the program--and a GSU-record 39 wins.
He served as the hitting instructor for the most prolific offensive teams in GSU annals as the Panthers hit .300 or better in each of his five seasons, led by the 2010 squad that shattered nearly every offensive school record with a .356 batting average, a Division I-leading 10.5 runs per game and 82 home runs.
    
Before coming to Georgia State, Stromdahl spent three seasons at Central Michigan (2004-06), where his primary responsibilities were hitting instruction, working with infielders and assisting with recruiting. CMU made three straight appearances in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, including the MAC regular-season title in 2004 and a 42-18 record in 2005.
    
He spent one season at Marshall (2003) and four seasons at Division II Southwest Minnesota State (1999-02), his alma mater, while also coaching summer baseball in the Coastal Plains League (2004) and the Northwoods League (2006).
    
Stromdahl played collegiately for two seasons at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minn., and two seasons at Southwest Minnesota State before pursuing professional baseball. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from SMSU in 2002 and then earned a master’s in sports administration from Central Michigan.
    
Stromdahl, 45, grew up in Napa, Calif., before finishing high school in Minocqua, Wis. He is married to the former Tessa Rieger, and the couple has two sons, Leo, born in 2011, and Hugo, born in 2014.


BRAD STROMDAHL YEAR-BY-YEAR AS A HEAD COACH