Dale Zanine Photography

Baseball 4/19/2021 4:17:00 PM

Busy Midweek as Panthers Host No. 17 Georgia Tech, Travel to Mercer

Watch Both Games on ESPN+

GEORGIA STATE (10-27) vs. No. 17 GEORGIA TECH / at MERCER

vs. Georgia Tech (17-14): Tuesday, April 20 | 6 p.m. | GSU Baseball Complex | ESPN+
at Mercer (20-15): Wednesday, April 21 | 6 p.m. | OrthoGeorgia Park, Macon, Ga. | ESPN+

PROBABLE PITCHERS
Tuesday: So. LHP Dawson Sweatt (2-1, 4.74)
Wednesday: So. RHP Joseph Brandon (0-1, 6.91)

LEADING OFF
> After another dramatic Sunday comeback win, Georgia State faces a pair of midweek games, hosting No. 17 Georgia Tech Tuesday and then traveling to Mercer Wednesday. Both games begin at 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.

> The Georgia Tech game will be the Panthers' 16th game against a nationally-ranked foe, and 20th against teams from Power 5 Conferences. GSU has won four of the those games, including the Panthers' 10-1 victory at Georgia Tech on March 3.

> Georgia State won its Sun Belt Conference series against Troy with another improbable Sunday comeback. Trailing 15-10, the Panthers tied the game with five runs in the eighth inning, capped by Kalen Puckett's pinch hit, two-run double, and then Kyle Riesselmann hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the 10th inning for the 17-15, series-clinching victory. Chandler Dawson finished the game with two scoreless innings to earn the win.

> The Panthers also rallied in Saturday's 7-5 win over Troy. GSU scored four runs in the seventh, including Elian Merejo's go-ahead, three-run home run.

> Last Sunday at Appalachian State, GSU trailed 12-6 before scoring nine runs in the ninth inning, capped by Josh Smith's go-ahead grand slam, and won 15-13. Ryan Glass started the scoring with an RBI-single, and then Cameron Jones' three-run homer, the first of his career, made it 12-10. After Dalton Pearson's RBI-single brought GSU within one, the Panthers were down to their last strike when Griffin Cheney was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then Smith hit the 1-2 pitch over the center field fence.

> In between at No. 20 Georgia, the Panthers almost pulled off another comeback. GSU scored five runs in the ninth, including RBI-singles by Dalton Pearson and Will Mize and a three-run homer by Will Goldberg, but the rally came up just short in the 10-7 loss.

> Sundays are for Slams: Josh Smith has hit grand slams each of the last two Sundays. First he hit the go-ahead grand slam in the Panthers' nine-run, ninth-inning rally at Appalachian State, and then he hit another slam in the 17-15 win over Troy. His slam at App State earned him Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors (April 17). He is the first Panther with two grand slams in a season since Ryan Blanton in 2017.

> Second baseman Griffin Cheney has started Georgia State's last 107 games at 2B, SS or 3B. In those 107 games, he has failed to reach base only 12 times. Cheney led the Panthers to back-to-back wins over Troy by going 6-for-9 with three RBI and six runs scored in those two contests.

> Friday starter Cameron Jones is a two-way player who also sees time at first base and is hitting .364 in limited action. He hit a three-run homer in the nine-run ninth inning at App State, and then followed with three hits Tuesday at Georgia. He added four hits in the back-to-back wins over Troy.

> Georgia State won its Sun Belt series against rival Georgia Southern (April 1-3). After a tough loss in Game 1, the Panthers bounced back with a 7-6, 10-inning victory on Blaine Marchman's walk-off single. In Game 3, Georgia State scored two runs in the seventh inning, including Will Mize's go-ahead, RBI-double, to clinch the series with a 3-2 victory.

> Dawson Sweatt, who will make his first start against Georgia Tech, earned back-to-back wins over Georgia Southern. In Friday's walk-off win, Sweatt pitched a scoreless 10th inning to allow the Panthers to win it in the bottom half. Then in the deciding Game 3, Sweatt entered the contest with Georgia State down by one, runners at second and third and two outs and immediately induced an inning-ending groundout. He finished the game, allowing no runs and one hit in 3.1 innings, to seal the win after the Panthers took the lead in the seventh.

> 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)

> 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.

> 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. GEORGIA TECH:
> Georgia State knocked off then No. 10 Georgia Tech 10-1 on March 3 at Tech. Freshman right-hander Mason Patel pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just four hits while striking out eight, the most strikeouts for a GSU freshman since 2013. Backing the strong pitching effort in were Will Mize (2-for-4, 2-run HR, 2B, 3 RBI) and Kyle Riesselmann (2-run HR, 3 RBI) as the Panthers jumped in front with four runs in the first inning and never looked back.

>The two Atlanta schools have met 80 times since 1971, including every year since Georgia State reinstated its program in 1992 through 2019. They did not meet in the abbreviated 2020 season. Georgia Tech leads the series 68-12.

> GSU's 10-1 victory in 2009 over a Tech team ranked No. 3 was the highest-ranked team the Panthers had ever beaten until this year's 4-2 victory at No. 2 Vanderbilt.

> Brad Stromdahl is 1-0 against Tech as a head coach, and during his tenure as a GSU assistant coach, he helped the Panthers to three wins over the Jackets (2007, 2009 and 2011), all on the road and all over ranked Tech teams.

GSU'S RECENT WINS OVER GEORGIA TECH
3-21-07 (@GT) GSU 9, No.15 GT 5
3-24-09 (@GT) GSU 10, No. 3 GT 1
3-2-11 (@GT) GSU 6, No. 23 GT 3
3-7-12 (@GSU) GSU 5, No. 10 GT 4
4-11-18 (@GT) GSU 5, GT 2
3-4-21 (@GT) GSU 10, No. 10 GT 1

SERIES VS. MERCER
> Georgia State and Mercer are meeting for the third of four scheduled games this season. Mercer won 5-3 in Atlanta (March 23) and 5-1 in Macon (April 6). The final meeting is May 11 at Georgia State.

> Mercer leads the series 71-51, but the teams have split the last 14 meetings.

> Mercer is Georgia State's most frequent opponent as the two schools have played 122 times since 1967. Every year that GSU has fielded a baseball team, it has played Mercer at least once.

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Players Mentioned

#7 Joseph Brandon: RHP; 6' 1"; Sophomore; R/R

#21 Griffin Cheney: INF; 5' 11"; Junior; R/R

#34 Chandler Dawson: RHP; 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R

#31 Ryan Glass: INF; 6' 4"; Junior; R/R

#19 Will Goldberg: C; 6' 0"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R

#27 Cameron Jones: LHP/OF; 6' 1"; Freshman; R/L

#15 Blaine Marchman: C; 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R

#18 Elian Merejo: C; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#14 Will Mize: INF; 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R

#6 Kalen Puckett: INF; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#3 Kyle Riesselmann: OF; 6' 3"; Freshman; R/L

#44 Josh Smith: OF; 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R

Players Mentioned

#7 Joseph Brandon
: 6' 1"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#21 Griffin Cheney
: 5' 11"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#34 Chandler Dawson
: 6' 1"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

#31 Ryan Glass
: 6' 4"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#19 Will Goldberg
: 6' 0"; Redshirt Sophomore; R/R
: C

#27 Cameron Jones
: 6' 1"; Freshman; R/L
: LHP/OF

#15 Blaine Marchman
: 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R
: C

#18 Elian Merejo
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: C

#14 Will Mize
: 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R
: INF

#6 Kalen Puckett
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#3 Kyle Riesselmann
: 6' 3"; Freshman; R/L
: OF

#44 Josh Smith
: 6' 4"; Sophomore; R/R
: OF