GEORGIA STATE (18-17) vs. KENNESAW STATE (20-14)
Tuesday, April 16 | 4 p.m. | GSU Baseball Complex

LEADING OFF

> Coming off a Sun Belt Conference series win over Southern Miss, Georgia State hosts in-state rival Kennesaw State Tuesday in a 4 p.m. game at the GSU Baseball Complex.

> The Panthers took the Southern Miss series with back-to-back run-rule victories, both in walk-off fashion. GSU won 18-8 on Friday as Matt Ruiz ended the game with a 2-run single in the seventh, and then Brennan Hudson's 3-run homer in the seventh ended Saturday's 19-8 victory. 

> Georgia State scored 46 runs in the series, including 12 home runs, both program records for a Sun Belt Conference series.

> Third baseman Will Mize is Georgia State's top hitter on the season at .344 on 52 hits, which ranks second in the Sun Belt. He also leads the team with 37 RBI while ranking second with eight homers.

> The Panthers' hottest hitters in the Southern Miss series were catcher-first baseman Brennan Hudson and outfielder Michael Maginnis, who combined for six home runs and 14 RBI in the three games. 

> Hudson was 8-for-11 in the three games with three homers (including Saturday's walk-off), six RBI and eight runs, compiling a slash line of .727/.800/1.545 for an eye-popping OPS of 2.345 in the series. 

> Maginnis was 7-for-14 with three homers, eight RBI, seven runs scored and three stolen bases. Maximus Martin (7-for-13, six runs scored) and Ryan Dyal (5-for-11, two homers, seven RBI) also had big series.

> Over the last 18 games, Maginnis is hitting .423 with five homers, 24 RBI, 24 runs scored and 12 stolen bases over the last 18 games. On the season, he is at .339 with seven homers, 33 RBI and a team-leading 16 stolen bases on 18 attempts. 

> Luke Boynton has moved up to No. 6 in GSU history with 35 career homers, while Will Mize is tied for 15th with 25.

> Georgia State has won four of its five Sun Belt series. The Panther won their first three Sun Belt series for the first time since joining the league in 2014, opening with a sweep at South Alabama for the first time ever, followed by series wins against ULM and James Madison before stumbling at Georgia Southern. Then GSU responded with another series win over Southern Miss.

> 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.

> 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). In his 12th season as a head coach, Stromdahl is 433-221.

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 .306 career batting average is climbing Georgia State's career lists in numerous offensive categories:

Hits: 221 (8th)
HR: 25 (T-15th)
2B: 45 (T-6th)
RBI: 141 (8th)
Total Bases: 343 (6th)
At-Bats: 716 (T-8th)

SERIES NOTES
> Georgia State won last season's only meeting 14-8 at the GSU Baseball Complex. Will Mize and Matt Ruiz homered as the Panthers scored 11 runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

> Kennesaw State leads the series 22-17.

> Freshman right-hander Sam Schofield (2-1, 7.31) will take the mound against the Owls, making his second start.