What You Need to Know:
• Georgia State finishes the regular season with a three-game series at in-state rival Georgia Southern,
• One point is on the line in the inaugural Rivalry Series between the two schools, but Georgia State has already clinched the all-sports competition for 2015-16 with a 13-6 lead.
• Shortstop Justin Jones is hitting .376 over his last 30 games, including .448 (13-for-29) in the last eight games.
REVISED SCHEDULE
GEORGIA STATE at GEORGIA SOUTHERN (J.I. Clements Stadium, Statesboro, Ga.)
Friday, 10 a.m. (DH)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
RECORDS
Georgia State: 23-29 overall, 9-18 Sun Belt
Georgia Southern: 31-22 overall, 14-13 Sun Belt
COVERAGE
Live statistics for all three games on GeorgiaStateSports.com and GSU mobile apps.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
GSU: Wayne Wages (LHP, Sr., 4-5, 5.10) vs. Evan Challenger (LHP, R-Jr., 5-4, 3-31)
GSU: TBA vs. Chase Cohen (RHP, Fr., 4-2, 2.63)
GSU: TBA vs. Brian Eichorn (RHP, Fr., 4-2, 4.76)
LEADING OFF
• The Panthers need to win or sweep the series at Georgia Southern, plus get help from other teams, to earn one of the eight spots in the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
• One point is on the line in the inaugural Rivalry Series between the two schools, but Georgia State has already clinched the all-sports competition for 2015-16 with a 13-6 lead.
• Three Panthers were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Baseball Team: senior catcher Joey Roach (3.89, actuarial science), junior outfielder Ryan Blanton (3.80, exercise science) and sophomore shortstop Justin Jones (4.04, exercise science). GSU is one of only two Division I schools in the nation to place three individuals on an Academic All-District team, and Jones' 4.04 cumulative GPA is the highest among all the All-District honorees.
• The Panthers posted a team GPA of 3.23 for the spring semester, following a 3.26 in the fall. Twenty-seven of the 35 team members had a 3.0 or better, including President's List (4.0 GPA) members Rhett Harper, Justin Jones and Brandon Baker, plus 10 Dean's List (3.5 GPA) honorees.
• Friday starter Wayne Wages was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week (April 25) after pitching 8-1/3 perfect innings in a 10-0 shutout of Appalachian State. Wages settled for a one-hitter, the fourth in GSU history, with a career-high nine strikeouts and no walks.
• Senior catcher Joey Roach was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week (April 11) after belting four home runs in four games while hitting .500 (7-for-14) with eight RBI.
• Wages and Roach give GSU two Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week selections in three weeks and five in the last three seasons, joining Nic Wilson (twice in 2014) and Ryan Blanton (2015).
• Sophomore first baseman Jack Thompson joins Wages and Roach as Sun Belt Baseball Community Coffee Student-Athlete of the Week honorees this season.
• Junior third baseman Jarrett Hood is the Panthers' leading hitter with a .354 average (sixth in Sun Belt), 34 RBI, two homers and a Sun Belt-leading 19 doubles. He has two walk-off hits this season.
• Joey Roach is one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award for baseball. The two-time All-Sun Belt selection and Johnny Bench Award semifinalist is also a 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-American with a 3.89 GPA in actuarial science.
• Joey Roach is the Sun Belt's active leader with 131 career RBI while ranking second with 195 hits and third with 25 career home runs (tied for 13th in GSU history).
• Now playing regularly as the right fielder, freshman Darius Sewell is hitting .333 with three homers and 20 RBI, including a .385 average in Sun Belt games.
• Shortstop Justin Jones is hitting .376 over his last 30 games, including .448 (13-for-29) in the last eight games. The 2015 Freshman All-American recovered from a slow start at the plate after injuring his thumb in the preseason.
• Junior center fielder Ryan Blanton is tied for fifth in the nation with eight outfield assists. As a team, GSU has 16 outfield assists, tied for seventh in Division I.
• The Panthers' March 20 win over Arkansas State was win No. 294 at Georgia State for head coach Greg Frady as he became Georgia State's career leader in victories, surpassing Mike Hurst, who won 293 games from 1993-2006. Frady now has 306 wins in his 10th season in Atlanta, including his 300th victory vs. Appalachian State.
• Georgia State has won six extra-inning games this season, including five walk-off wins.
SERIES VS. GEORGIA SOUTHERN: Georgia State split four games with Georgia Southern last season, including a 3-2 victory in the opening round of the Sun Belt Championship.
The Eagles won two of three games in Atlanta as the three-game series was decided by a total of six runs. Georgia State took the opener 6-2 before Georgia Southern won a pair of one-run games, 4-3 and 3-2 in 11 innings.
Last year's games were the first between the two in-state rivals since 2007. Georgia Southern leads the all-time series 60-19.
