GEORGIA STATE (5-17) vs. KENNESAW STATE (12-8)

THE SERIES
Friday, 5 p.m. on ESPN+ (GSU Baseball Complex)
Saturday, 2 p.m. on ESPN+ (GSU Baseball Complex)

Sunday, 1 p.m. (Stillwell Stadium)
Monday, 5 p.m. (Stillwell Stadium)

PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday:     GSU So. RHP Ryan Watson (2-2, 5.24) vs. KSU LHP Jake Rice (4-0, 1.65)
Saturday:     GSU Fr. LHP Cameron Jones  (0-3, 4.71) vs. KSU RHP Luke Torbert
Sunday & Monday:  TBA

LEADING OFF
> Georgia State faces in-state rival Kennesaw State for four games this weekend, beginning Friday (5 p.m.) and Saturday (2 p.m.) at the GSU Baseball Complex, with both games airing on ESPN+. The wraparound series then moves to KSU's Stillwell Stadium Sunday (1 p.m.) and Monday (5 p.m.).

> Sophomore outfielder Josh Smith is the Panthers' hottest hitter after going 7-for-9 over the last two games. He was 4-for-5 with two RBI Sunday at ULM, then went 3-for-4 vs. Mercer. He is hitting .458 over the last six games, raising his season average to a team-leading .333, including home runs at Tennessee and at Kentucky.

> The Panthers are in a stretch of nine straight games are against in-state foes: Mercer, Kennesaw State (Home, March 26-27; Away March 27-28), Georgia Southern (Home, April 1-3) and Mercer (Away, April 6).

> Facing the nation's toughest non-conference schedule, the Panthers opened the season with 18 straight games against Power 5 opponents, including 14 nationally-ranked foes.

> Georgia State played its first 14 games against ranked foes, including four victories:
No. 14 West Virginia twice, 7-6 (10) and 20-4 (home)
No. 2 Vanderbilt, 4-2 (away)
No. 10 Georgia Tech, 10-1 (away)

> Georgia State opened Sun Belt Conference play last Friday with a 4-3 win at ULM as freshman right fielder Dalton Pearson led the Panthers. GSU trailed 2-1 after five innings, but Pearson's two-run single in the sixth put the Panthers up 4-2. Then in the bottom of the sixth, after ULM pulled within 4-3, he threw out the potential tying run at the plate. 

> In the win over ULM, starting pitcher Ryan Watson allowed no earned runs in six innings to earn his 10th career victory, the most of any active GSU pitcher. He struck out seven and walked none.

> Freshman right-hander Mason Patel was named Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week after leading GSU to a win at No. 10 Georgia Tech (March 3). He pitched six scoreless inning and allowed just four hits while striking out eight, the most strikeouts for a GSU freshman since 2013. Backing the strong pitching effort in the win at Tech were Will Mize (2-for-4, 2-run HR, 2B, 3 RBI) and Kyle Riesselmann (2-run HR, 3 RBI). 

> The Panthers earned a Friday night, 4-2 victory at No. 2 Vanderbilt (Feb. 26), the highest-ranked team GSU has ever beaten. Previously, the highest ranked team GSU had ever defeated was No. 3 Georgia Tech in 2010, 10-1. 

> In the win over Vandy, starting pitcher Ryan Watson threw five strong innings (1 run, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts) and Elian Merejo provided key insurance runs with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning. Vandy put the tying runs on base in the bottom of the ninth, but Chad Treadway recorded the final two outs for the save.

> Georgia State opened the season with a four-game series split against No. 14 West Virginia. After falling 5-3 in 10 innings on Opening Day, Georgia State swept the Saturday doubleheader with a 7-6 walk-off win on Elian Merejo's two-out single in the 10th, and then a 20-4 victory in the nightcap. GSU then held WVU to just three hits in the series finale, but the Mountaineers managed a 3-2 victory.

> The Panthers' 20-4 win in Game 3 of the WVU series represents the most runs GSU has ever scored against a ranked foe. Georgia State jumped on the Mountaineers with an 11-run first inning and never looked back.

> Georgia State leads the Sun Belt and is tied for 10th in D-1 with 17 double plays turned.

> Second-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). Before going to Georgia Gwinnett in November 2011, Stromdahl spent five seasons (2007-11) as an assistant coach at Georgia State.

SERIES VS. KENNESAW STATE
> Georgia State and Kennesaw State met every year from 2009-19 but did not play during the shortened 2020 season. KSU leads the series 17-15, but the Panthers have won two of the last three.

> Kennesaw State won the last meeting, 12-10 at KSU on April 22, 2019. In that contest, Griffin Cheney reached base six straight times as he walked, singled, doubled, reached on an error, walked and singled. Playing shortstop, he also started three double plays.

> Georgia State has won the last two games at the GSU Baseball Complex, 9-7 in 2019 and 7-4 in 2018.

> The two schools are playing a weekend series for the first time since 2012.