Panthers Head North for Sun Belt Series at App State

GEORGIA STATE (7-23, 3-3) at APPALACHIAN STATE (11-13, 4-2)
April 9-11 | Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium, Boone, N.C.

THE SERIES:
Friday, 5 p.m.
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Sunday, 1 p.m.

COVERAGE: Free live audio on GeorgiaStateSports.com and GSU Athletics mobile app.

LEADING OFF
> After winning last weekend's Sun Belt Conference series vs. Georgia Southern, Georgia State travels to Appalachian State to face another East Division foe, Friday through Sunday in Boone, N.C.

> Georgia State has won two straight series against the Mountaineers in 2019 in Boone and 2018 in Atlanta.

> After a tough loss in Game 1 of the Georgia Southern series, 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.

> Elian Merejo had four hits and four RBI in the back-to-back victories over Georgia Southern. In Friday's walk-off win, Merejo went 3-for-5, including two doubles, and drove in two runs. In Saturday's series-clinching 3-2 victory, Merejo drove in two of the Panthers' three runs, including his team-leading fifth home run.

> Reliever Dawson Sweatt 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.

> Second baseman Griffin Cheney started his 100th straight game against Mercer. In the last 100 games, he has failed to reach base only 11 times.

> 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 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.

> 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.

> 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).

> 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. APPALACHIAN STATE
> GSU leads the series with Appalachian State 13-7, including a 9-5 advantage as Sun Belt members beginning in 2015. The Panthers are 5-3 in Boone since re-joining the Sun Belt.

> GSU has won the last two series against the Mountaineers, 2-1 in 2019 at App and 2-1 in 2018 in Atlanta.

> These teams met last on March 17, 2019 at App State, when Georgia State clinched the series with a 17-6 victory. GSU scored eight runs in the second inning and never looked back. The 17 runs are the most that Georgia State has ever scored in a Sun Belt game. Ryan Watson, then a true freshman, earned the win in relief.

> The Panthers opened the 2019 series with a 2-0 win in which Joseph Brandon, also a freshman, earned his first save, combining with Hunter Gaddis for the shutout, the last thrown by the GSU staff.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Hunter Gaddis: RHP; 6' 6"; Junior; R/R

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

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

#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

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

#20 Chad Treadway: RHP; 6' 1"; Freshman; L/R

#25 Ryan Watson: RHP; 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R

#2 Mason Patel: RHP; 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R

#9 Dalton Pearson: OF; 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R

#12 Dawson Sweatt: LHP; 6' 3"; Sophomore; L/L

Players Mentioned

#22 Hunter Gaddis
: 6' 6"; Junior; R/R
: RHP

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

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

#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

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

#20 Chad Treadway
: 6' 1"; Freshman; L/R
: RHP

#25 Ryan Watson
: 6' 2"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP

#2 Mason Patel
: 6' 2"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP

#9 Dalton Pearson
: 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R
: OF

#12 Dawson Sweatt
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; L/L
: LHP