Indy Star: RJ Hunter Down to Four

In a mildly suprising move, RJ Hunter, son of Head Coach Ron Hunter, has cut his list of schools to four: Virginia Tech, Iowa, Wake Forest and Georgia State.

The fact that we made the cut is a tremendously good sign.

Also mentioned in this blog, Zavier Turner, RJ's point guard at Pike and a 2013, recruit has already picked up an offer from Coach Hunter.

Indianapolis Star Link

Coach Hunter Completes Staff

Not a ton of new information here but glad to see the return of Claude Pardue and Tony Bollier along with Darryl Labarrie and Everick Sullivan.

Georgia State Sports Link

AJC: Mark Bradley: GSU Made Best Hire

Mark Bradley posted a blog update rating the three Georgia Universities (Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech and Georgia State) and their basketball coaching hires. According to Bradley, GSU made the best hire.

"I’d give solid B’s to Tech’s and KSU’s new men, and I’d give something better to Georgia State’s."

AJC Link

AJC: Hunter will not be recruiting son

Good work by our guy Michael Carvell.

AJC Link

CAA Baseball Review 4/25/2011

In an effort to keep everyone informed of the current baseball standings and outlook in the CAA, I'm going to provide a review after each weekend in this final month of play.

Georgia State entered the weekend in 5th place, 2 games back of 1st place UNC-Wilmington, and 1.5 games out of the final tournament spot.

The Panthers took 2-of-3 games this weekend at Northeastern up in Boston. Looking at the standings you would think a sweep would have been nice but we faced some excellent pitching up there so you have to be happy about winning the series.

What happened above us in the standings? UNC-Wilmington won 2-of-3 against Hofstra, Delaware won 2-of-3 against James Madison and Old Dominion won 2-of-3 against George Mason. The Delaware-James Madison series was the first example of teams ahead of us beating each other up and it benefiting us. Thanks to Delaware, we are now .5 game out of the final tournament spot. We still remain 2 games back of the lead held by UNC-Wilmington and a series to play with them. The only change in positions of the top 5 is James Madison dropped from 2nd to 4th with Delaware and Old Dominion each moving up 1 position as a result.

Georgia State currently holds the tiebreaker with James Madison because we won the series against them this season. We lose the tiebreaker with Delaware and Old Dominion because they won the series against us. We have yet to play UNC-Wilmington. I have a feeling head-to-head tiebreakers are going to come into play for tournament seeding this season.

What is that you ask? That's a log jam and also what the CAA looks like right now. There are currently 7 teams within 3 games back of the lead. Even Northeastern who is in 2nd to last place is just 5 games back.

My CAA impact series of the week for this weekend is UNC-Wilmington at James Madison. James Madison needs a series win badly in order to remain in a tournament spot as Georgia State hosts Hofstra and hopefully is able to win 2-of-3. If JMU is able to pull out a win this log jam is going to get even tighter. The last 2 weeks of the season are looking to be very exciting.

Baseball Travels to Boston for Northeastern Series

The Georgia State Panthers baseball team is up in Boston for a 3-game CAA series with the Northeastern Huskies. GSU enters the series with a 27-12 overall record and a 8-7 CAA record good for 5th place in the CAA. Northeastern is 11-22 and 6-9 in the CAA for 2nd to last place. Both teams have good pitching staffs while the Panthers have the edge offensively.

History/Common Opponents: The Panthers are 10-6 against Northeastern since 2006, 8-5 under Coach Frady. The series in Boston is currently split at 3 games a piece all-time.

During the 2011 season, GSU and NE have both faced Old Dominion, Towson and VCU. Both clubs lost 2-of-3 to ODU while GSU swept Towson and Towson swept NE. GSU lost the series to VCU while NE won their series against them.

Northeastern at the Plate: The Huskies have struggled offensively scoring under 4 runs per game and hitting just .259 as a team. They are last in the CAA in the power numbers with just 7 home runs and slugging only .356. While they're not anywhere near leading the CAA in steals with just 48 they are a much improved base running team over last year when they had only 29 steals. The Huskies have some guys in the lineup that can cause damage. Junior Matt Miller is hitting .336 with 9 doubles and 14 RBIs with the teams highest on-base % at .431. Freshman infielder Aaron Barbosa (BTW I'm completely jealous of his last name) is hitting .336 with 4 doubles, 2 triples at the top of the lineup. He leads the team with 15 stolen bases. Jeff Dunlap is hitting .250 but cannot be overlooked as this senior outfielder is the team RBI leader with 21 and leads in home runs with 3.

Northeastern on the Mound: Pitching has been the strong side for Northeastern this season. They are now owners of the 2nd best ERA in the CAA at 4.27. The club has allowed 5.3 runs per game. They lead the CAA in walks allowed at just 3.25 walks per 9/innings. The team is throwing 7.4 strikeouts per 9/innings. This club has pitched very well in their CAA series to-date. This pitching staff is on a hot streak by posting just a 1.80 ERA over their last 8 starts, giving them a 6-2 record over the period. Series starters are...

Les Williams (Sr., RH) - Les is 3-4 after 8 starts with a 4.29 ERA. Les has 2 complete games, 1 shutout and is keeping the bullpen rested due to going an average of over 7 innings per outing. Les has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4:1. Opponents are hitting .276 against him. Les's last outing was last Friday against VCU where he pitched a complete game allowing just 2 runs and no walks with 9 strikeouts. This was his 2nd complete game in a row, the kid is on a roll right now.

Andrew Leenhouts (Jr., LH) - Andrew is 2-4 after 8 starts with a 2.56 ERA. First thought here is Andrew receives very little offensive support. Andrew has 1 complete game and is coming off a 8.1 inning winning effort at VCU last Friday in game 2 of a double header. He allowed no runs and just 4 hits in the outing. Opposing batters are hitting just .232 against Andrew.

Brandon McNelis (Sr., RH) - Brandon is 2-4 after 8 starts with a 5.17 ERA. Don't let the ERA fool you as Brandon has had two excellent starts in a row. He's allowed just 3 runs in his last 2 games against Hofstra and VCU where he pitched a complete game shutout against Hofstra and received a loss at VCU after allowing only 3 runs in 7.2 innings pitched. While opposing batters are hitting .264 against Brandon, he's had some troubles allowing doubles and home runs.

Dylan Maki is the save leader for the Huskies with 3. He's 2-1 after 13 relief appearances with a 3.71 ERA. He's allowed 10 runs (7 earned) in his 17 innings of relief. Matt Cook is another reliever pitching well for the Huskies. He has 7 relief appearances for 13 innings and has allowed just 2 earned runs and opponents are hitting only .200 against him.

Georgia State at the Plate: Not much has changed since the last offensive preview for GSU. It's worth noting that Drew Shields, since stepping in for Joey Woods who's been dealing with a hip injury, is hitting .404 in (13) CAA games which is good for team-best. He has an on-base % of .500. Ryan Fleming has been ripping apart CAA pitching when he hits the ball slugging .872 with 5 doubles, a triple and 6 home runs with 19 RBIs. Brett Maxwell, while hitting .346 overall, has hit just .234 in conference games.

Georgia State on the Mound: The Panthers pitching staff has been good this year but there is a stark difference in non-conference play against CAA play. The Panthers have an overall ERA of 4.48 and have allowed 5.3 runs per game. In CAA play, the Panthers ERA is 6.07 and they've allowed 6.9 runs per game. Starters in Boston are...

Will Campbell (Sr., RH) - Will is the CAA win co-leader at 6-1 with a 2.92 ERA. So far he's 1-1 in CAA play with a 3.00 ERA. He's pitched 15 innings in his 3 CAA outings allowing 8 runs (only 5 earned) off 17 hits and 3 walks. CAA opponents are hitting .298 against him. Will pitched well against ODU last Friday but received no offensive support and had some errors behind him. He went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs (2 earned) off 8 hits and 1 walk. Will received a loss in the contest.

Charley Olson (Sr., RH) - Charley is 4-3 overall with a 3.46 ERA in 8 starts. He's made 5 CAA game starts and is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA. Charley has been pitching well lately giving the Panthers solid outings (including a complete game at JMU) in his last couple starts. CAA batters are hitting .287 on him and have struck out 29 times in 35 innings. His last outing was a 7 inning winning effort at home against ODU. He allowed only 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk.

Justin Malone (Jr., RH) - Justin is 5-0 with a 4.44 ERA overall this season. In his 5 CAA starts he is 1-0 with a 6.92 ERA. CAA batters are hitting .342 against Justin with 9 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs in 26 innings. He has shown excellent control in all games this season with just 9 walks in 50.2 innings pitched. Justin had a rough 2nd and 3rd inning against ODU but settled to allow just 3 runs in 7 innings pitched. ODU managed just 5 hits and 1 walk against him. Justin did not factor into the decision as GSU eventually fell 4-3.

Jake Dyer and Nick Squeglia have been the go-to relievers for the Panthers in CAA games. Jake has allowed just 1 run in 7.1 relief innings and allowed zero walks. Nick has allowed 6 earned runs in 14 relief innings but has walked 10. Nick has had high walk numbers all season but has managed to keep his ERA at a very respectable 3.00.

This is another hard series to predict. On paper, you like the Panthers to win because of their offense. However, this was the same against ODU last week and ODU took the series win. I know the team realizes this is a must win series against a team below you in the standings. Losing this series could hurt badly come end of May. Our pitchers have been getting beat up by CAA offenses inferior to those faced in mid-week games and this weekend is another example of facing inferior offenses. What makes this even more hard to predict is the hot streak the Northeastern pitchers are on right now. If they cool off here we should sweep. If they remain hot, win 2-of-3 and count your blessings this Easter weekend. The Panthers must come home with a series win. GO PANTHERS!!!

AJC: Curry Pleased With Spring Practice

Good work by Doug Roberson.  You can definitely see he's bringing an edge to his writing and I think this will be different (not bad different) from Ken's pieces.

One interesting note in the article: 

Curry said the linemen moved their feet properly and were getting into the right defender in the spring, but they need to become stronger and improve their conditioning.

As a team, Curry said in the 12 to 18 months that most of the players have been in the program, he hasn’t seen enough improvement from time spent in the weight room. He said he is working to fix that area, but declined to offer any details.

This screams there will be changes within our S&C staff.  CBC has mentioned workouts being unorganized and this is the third mention in less than a month.  Not good for those in charge of this program.  The term "heads will roll" may be appropriate here.

AJC Link

SB Nation: Georgia State football to Sun Belt "Makes Sense"

Check out my commentary on the interview with Dallas, TX blogger on local radio today discussing our future conference plans.

SB Nation Link

AJC: Bilukidi, Felder and Williams named Captains

Good work by our new beat writer Doug Roberson.  Make sure you comment and welcome him to covering the Panther Nation.

AJC Link

CAA Football Domino Effect: UMASS May Push New Hampshire Out

Here We Go!

UMASS announcing their plans has the other New England schools re-evaluating.  New Hampshire Athletic Director Marty Scarano:

"I've been working hard for two years looking at our status in the CAA and what that means, and what we mean to the CAA, as well as contingency plans."

"Travel's the most obvious (concern)," said Scarano. "There are going to be a lot of people traveling in ways they haven't before. More flights going down there and more flights coming up here."

"And the time, it couldn't be worse given the huge expense of travel right now. But (UNH's long-term) decision is not going to be anything just predicated on the finances."

11 football playing schools in 2011 and 10 (when we join) in 2012.  The writing is on the wall for these schools.  New Hampshire and Maine will be next to jump ship.  They cannot afford the increasing travel costs and will likely follow Rhode Island.  Like the Bud Light slogan says, "Here We Go."

Kennesaw State Baseball Visits Panthersville

The 27-11 Georgia State Panthers baseball team hosts the 21-18 Kennesaw State Owls today at 6 PM for the 2nd and final matchup of the 2011 season. GSU defeated the Owls on March 23rd in Kennesaw by a score of 6-3 after a dominant outing by pitcher Will Campbell.

Freshman reliever and recent mid-week starter Sam Agnew-Wieland will get the start today for the Panthers. This will be his 3rd start of the season and he's 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA. Sam has a WHIP of 0.96 and has struck out 29 batters in 25 innings pitched (11 total appearances). Opposing batters are hitting just .202 on him for the season and have managed only 2 extra base hits, both doubles. Sam's wins have come against a powerful Mercer lineup and Alabama State.

The Owls will send sophomore Catlan Kendrick against Sam. Catlan is 1-0 with a 2.78 ERA and will also be making his 3rd start on the season and 11th total appearance. He's pitched 22.2 innings with a WHIP of 1.32 while opposing hitters are batting .274 against him. He' thrown 17 strikeouts on the season. Catlan pitched the 9th inning in the 6-3 GSU win and allowed 1 hit and walked 1 but allowed no runs to score.

The Georgia State lineup is hitting .314 as a team currently led by Mark Micowski who's hitting .369. Sophomore Drew Shields is now hitting .362 and has really stepped up for the Panthers during Joey Wood's injury. The team is scoring 7.7 runs per game on the season. Micowksi, Brandon Williams and Rob Lind all had a 3-hit game against the Owls in March.

KSU is hitting .278 as a team and has scored an average of 6.1 runs per game this season. Ronnie Freeman, who was 2-for-4 in the first game, leads the team with a .367 average. Ethan Herron also had a 2-for-4 day against the Panthers in March and is hitting .328 on the season. Home run leader Andy Chriscaden homered in the March meeting and drove in 2 runs. He still leads the KSU offense with 9 home runs and 45 RBIs.

I expect the Panthers to complete the season sweep over the Owls in front of the home crowd. GO PANTHERS!!!

Cleveland.com: UMASS Heading to the MAC

Why is this big news to Georgia State?  Another potential CAA foe is jumping ship.  Northeastern and Hofstra have ended their programs, Rhode Island has dropped down to the NEC and now UMASS is jumping FBS to the MAC.  There are rumblings about Maine and New Hampshire looking around and possibly following Rhode Island's lead.

CAA football will add Old Dominion this Fall and we'll join as football playing members in 2012. 

The question remains:  How many teams will be there to greet us?

Cleveland.com Link

4/18/2011 Baseball Check-Up

The 2011 season is approaching the final month of play and some people may be starting to sweat the fact that Georgia State is not currently in the CAA Tournament. I'm here to tell you it's OK and I'll explain why. First let's have a look at the standings.

The top 4 teams are currently UNC-Wilmington, James Madison, Delaware and Old Dominion.

Full current standings here.

Georgia State is currently sitting at the 5th spot in the standings. Unfortunately the 5th spot is the first team who misses the CAA Tournament. Fortunately we've played just 15 of 30 CAA games and the division is tight this season so the order of the top seven teams can look completely different after this coming weekend. Putting too much thought into the conference tournament right now is like worrying about your favorite MLB team (Braves) and their status in the playoff race at the MLB All-Star break. As anyone who understands baseball will say, baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.

Before reading further, look at the current team vs. team grid here.

Let's focus on the top four tournament teams for now as they're the ones we need to either A) beat or B) receive help from other CAA teams. Of the current four tournament teams, GSU has played three of them leaving with a 4-5 record in the nine games. The remaining top four opponent is UNC-Wilmington which we will play at Wilmington the first weekend in May. UNC-W has played just one of the other three current tournament teams, Delaware, and won just 1-of-3. They're 5-1 against the worst two teams in the CAA which GSU has yet to play.

UNC-W, JMU, DEL and ODU all have 2 CAA series remaining against each other. UNC-W has five remaining in total and the other three have four remaining. For this fact alone there is going to be movement within the top four. Teams will get better and teams will get worse.

Here are the CAA winning percentages of each team's remaining opponents. Notice Georgia State has the easiest remaining road. The top three teams remaining CAA opponents have a winning percentage over .500.

GSU 0.436 (5th Place)
TOW 0.436 (7th Place)
ODU 0.472 (4th Place)
W&M 0.475 (6th Place)
NE 0.484 (10th Place)
GM 0.511 (11th Place)
DEL 0.522 (3rd Place)
UNC-W 0.533 (1st Place)
JMU 0.544 (2nd Place)
VCU 0.544 (8th Place)
HOF 0.569 (9th Place)

Luckily we have the opportunity to play nine of our last 15 games against the bottom three teams, Hofstra, Northeastern and George Mason. Hofstra and only won series against Towson (we swept them) and George Mason who has three total CAA wins in 18 games. Northeastern won against VCU (we lost 2-of-3) and Hoftra. George Mason has yet to win a CAA series and has been swept in three of their six CAA series. This should make you feel better. Only ODU gets to play even two series against these teams and UNC-W, JMU and DEL get only one.

So what do I think will happen? I think GSU goes 11-4 in the remaining CAA games. This leaves us at a 19-11 CAA record. We need just one of the top four teams to lose at least four games and we're in. It's likely that this happens to more than one team and we move up a couple spaces. We probably finish 2nd or 3rd thanks to head-to-head tie breaker. Keep in mind first place is not out of the question by any means. The schedule is in our favor right now.

Source: Eastern Kentucky's Everick Sullivan Joins Hunter's Staff

Per Eastern Kentucky's Asst. Basketball Coach Austin Newton's Twitter page, Everick Sullivan is the second Asst. Coach hired by Georgia State men's basketball coach Ron Hunter.


Sullivan's Resume:
-Played for Denny Crum at Louisville and graduated in 1988-92
-Wabash Valley (Assistant Coach, 2002-04)
-Lincoln Trail (Head Coach, 2004-05)
-Vincennes (Head Coach, 2005-08)
-Eastern Kentucky (Assistant Coach, 2008-2010)
-Eastern Kentucky (Associate Head Coach, 2010-present)

Sullivan joins Darryl Labarrie and I fully expect an announcement of the rest of the staff next week.

Last day working with Everick Sullivan. Great coach, recruiter, and even better person. Learned a lot from him and wish him all the best!

Baseball Panthers Host Old Dominion in CAA Series

The Old Dominion Monarchs come in for a 3-game CAA series today through Sunday. The Panthers are coming off one of the biggest road series wins in team history as they defeated JMU in Virginia in 2 games of the 3-game series. The Monarchs are coming off a home series win against Towson where they scored only 11 runs and allowed 8 against the weak Towson team.

The Panthers enter at 26-9 overall and 7-5 in CAA play. The Monarchs are 17-17 overall and 9-6 in CAA play. Old Dominion currently holds the 4th spot in the CAA which happens to be the final tournament spot and Georgia State is in 5th. Here's the best case scenario for Georgia State with the top 6 CAA teams. Delaware wins the series against Towson, I'd say Delaware losses but I'm being realistic here. GSU sweeps ODU, completely possible and I'll get to that in a minute. No sweep in the UNC-Wilmington vs William & Mary series. James Madison is off in CAA play this weekend. This scenario would leave us in 2nd in the CAA. We would have the same winning percentage as Delaware but we lose the tie-breaker to them since they took 2-of-3 against us. On to the preview.

Who: The Old Dominion Monarchs compete in the CAA with Georgia State. ODU is 17-17 overall and 9-6 in CAA conference play.

History/Common Opponents: Old Dominion leads the all-time series by 9-8. The Panthers are 7-6 against ODU under Coach Frady and are 2-1 at Panthersville. The home series win came in the CAA championship season of 2009. Last year the Panthers won 2-of-3 in Norfolk, VA. The two teams share 3 common opponents thus far in the 2011 season. James Madison, VCU and Towson.

JMU: GSU won 2-of-3, ODU won 2-of-3
VCU: GSU lost 2-of-3, ODU won 2-of-3
Towson: GSU won 3-of-3, ODU won 2-of-3

Old Dominion at the Plate: ODU is hitting a CAA-low .248 at the plate, almost 40 points below the league average of .286, and scoring 5.3 runs at the plate. The team has shown some power but not as much as the Panthers with 28 home runs. 10 of these have come from the bat of infielder RS-Jr. Josh Wright. Josh also leads the team with a .723 slugging percentage as he has 9 doubles and 4 triples. In addition, he leads the team with 13 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Bottom line, keep people off base in front of him and keep him off base. Josh is the only Monarch hitting above .300, but 1B Christopher Baker and OF Nathan Hartman are hitting .299 and .297. Christopher is the teams RBI leader with 35 and he’s tied for the most strikeouts at 32. Joshua Wright seems to be the offensive spark so keep him at bay and you’ll limit the damage their offense can do. There’s not much power or speed beyond him.

Old Dominion on the Mound: Pitching has been ODU’s saving grace for the poor offense this season. Their team ERA is 4.59 and they’re allowing 5.5 runs per game. Looking at the ODU pitching stat line is almost the exact same as the GSU version only we’ve allowed about half a run less per game. Starters as follows:

Kyle Hald (Sr., LH) – Kyle is 5-2 in 8 starts with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He has 71 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched and batters are hitting only .214 against him.

Ben Tomchick (Jr., RH) – 5-3 in 8 starts with a 3.04 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. 44 strikeouts in his 50.1 innings pitched including 1 relief appearance. Batters are hitting .264 against him.

Phil McCarthy (Jr., LH) – Phil is 4-3 in 8 starts with 2 complete games. His ERA is a 4.41 and has a WHIP of 1.51. He’s thrown 32 strikeouts in his 51 innings pitched. Batters have the most success against him out of their weekend starters as they’re hitting .304 against him.

The Monarchs have an excellent relief pitcher in Dean Ali. Dean has made 14 relief appearances and 3 game starts accumulating 40 innings pitched. He’s allowed just 6 earned runs in those 4o innings for a 1.35 ERA. He has a WHIP of 1.1 and opposing batters are .234 against him. These pitchers, like GSU, do not give up the long ball. Again, this is a very evenly matched pitching game.

GSU at the Plate: The Panthers are hitting .316 as a team and scoring over 8 runs per game. If you read my post from earlier in the week it’s clear this is a top 10 offense in the NCAA, much more than ODU can say about their offense. Brandon Williams is now the team batting leader hitting .379 with Mark Micowski and Brett Maxwell on his heals at .366 and .363. The Panthers offense is more balanced than ODU. ODU has one real threat. The Panthers can hit, steal and knock runs in up and down the lineup. Ryan Fleming is still the RBI and home run leader with 42 RBIs and 11 home runs. The GSU offense will face one of the better pitching staffs they’ve seen this season so I expect a series average around 7 runs.

GSU on the Mound: The Panthers have a team ERA of 4.42 and have allowed 5.2 runs per game. Starters as follows:

Will Campbell (Sr., RH) – Will leads the CAA with a 6-0 record in 7 game starts. His ERA is 2.91 and he has a 0.95 WHIP. Opposing batters have been nothing but frustrated when facing will this season as he’s allowed just a .199 batting average. He has 31 strikeouts in his 46.1 innings pitched.

Charley Olson (Sr., RH) – Charley is coming off a complete game win against James Madison last Saturday. He has evened his record at 3-3 with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.3 WHIP. Opposing batters are hitting .283 against him and he has 40 strikeouts in 47.2 innings.

Justin Malone (Jr., RH) – Justin is 5-0 with a 4.53 record. He is coming off a good outing blemished by one bad inning against the powerful James Madison offense. He allowed them 5 runs in 5.1 innings. Justin has a WHIP of 1.5 and batters are hitting .324 against him.

Look for Nick Squeglia, Jake Dyer and Sam Agnew-Wieland to provide relief for the starters this weekend. All three have been nothing short of outstanding in their contributions to the pitching staff this season. The three have ERAs of 2.97, 1.86 and 2.16 respectively.

If you’re into pitching this series is for you. Because of the great advantage the Panthers hold due to their offense, I see no reason why a series win will not happen. A series sweep is within reach if the Panthers pitchers can keep ODU’s Josh Wright from causing much damage. The Panthers have too many offensive weapons for ODU to overcome. Look for the Panthers to be back in a tournament spot after Sunday. Let’s hope this forecasted rain doesn’t cause us to have any issues on the field or with games being canceled. GO PANTHERS!!!

Lambuth Officially Closing June 30th

As I mentioned on Monday, Lambuth was on the verge of closing.  The Jackson Sun has confirmed it.

We'll be very interested to see what the next move is as we will likely have to move on to Open B.

Lambuth University will close June 30, and university officials will work over the next few weeks to try to reach an agreement for another college to take over the campus, President Bill Seymour said in a news conference at 5 p.m. today. He said discussions may take place with three colleges that are interested in the campus, one of which is the University of Memphis. Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist and three state legislators have made statements in support of the University of Memphis taking over the campus in Jackson as a branch of the public university, and U of M appears to be a strong contender to do so.

SB Nation: Panthers Close Spring Practice with Dome Scrimmage

SB Nation Atlanta Link

Georgia State Football on Facebook

Make sure if you are on Facebook to like the page.  We have 96 fans right now!  Let's Go!

GSU Football Facebook Page

One Year Ago: 3,192 Watch GSU Spring Scrimmage

Now we know why Coach Curry was smiling.

Photo Courtesy of GSU Sports Communications

GSU Sports Link

Spring Scrimmage: What I'm Looking At Tonight

Great work today by our guy Ken Suguira.

A couple of things to note:
-Starting Center Ben Jacoby, who had been recovering from some ankle issues and a concussion, and Starting Left Guard Joe Gilbert will not be at the Dome on Thursday night.  Both are in Grad School and have night classes that will prevent them from being there.
-Back up Tackle Grant King and starting LB Jake Muasua will be out as well for precautionary reasons.

AJC Link

My thoughts:
-This is Spring Practice #15.  That's it.  While it is great for the fans to get a taste of football in the Dome for the first time since November, the coaches are not always thrilled about a change in their schedule (the team had been practicing in the morning).
-The increased likelihood of injury to key guys will likely move many starters off the field very early.  
-This is an opportunity for younger players to get snaps with the lights on.

-DISCLAIMER: DO NOT READ INTO STATS FROM THIS GAME
      - WRs like Brett Beidel and Zach Jones dropping passes are not indicative of our offense.  
        They are walk ons and will not be contributing in the Fall.

What to Watch For:
-Look for certain depth at positions.  Take a look a how back up Center Tim Wynn does tonight (#50). 
-Look at Nate Anthony at CB, Sam Burkhalter at ILB, Akeen Felder at LB, Cole Moon at H Back.
-Look at how QB Kelton Hill and QB Bo Schlechter look throwing the ball.  Not necessarily is deep reserve guys are catching them but where they are hitting them.
-Look at the overall speed at our skill positions.  This was something that I was encouraged by seeing key contributors who were faster and not carrying as much weight vs. muscle.

Looking forward to seeing you out in the Orange Lot and stop by and say hello!

“It’s kind of crazy, but that’s Georgia State,” said running back Parris Lee, smiling. “We make it crazy.”

Spring Scrimmage Scoring Explained

Ok, there's been a few Spring Games around the country already and people get very confused by the scoring system.  Here's the breakdown by Coach Bill Curry:

Offense Scores:
6 Points for TD
1 Point for PAT
2 Points for Plays 20 yards or more


Defense Scores:
2 Points for 3 and Out
1 Point for Tackle For Loss
1 Point for Sack
4 Points for a Turnover with no score
7 Points for Turnover with score (Return for TD)
2 Points for Safety

Source: CBC's Twitter

PantherTalk.com Spring Game Tailgate

Want a Coozeee? We'll have them tomorrow at the Dome?

For the rest of info on the tailgate visit PantherTalk.com Tailgate Page.

A Look at GSU Baseball in the NCAA Rankings

Photo Courtesy of the NCAA

I was looking over the NCAA statistics this morning and kept running across "Georgia St." at or near the top of many offensive catagories so I wanted to toot the horn of the team, the guys below and the coaching staff. The following is where the team ranks in all of NCAA...

Runs Scored: 4th
Runs Per Game: 9th
Walks: 3rd
Team Batting Average: 13th
Team Slugging %: 7th
Doubles: Tied for 1st (with Georgia Tech)
Hits: 7th
Home Runs: Tied for 9th
Stolen Bases: 12th

Now for some individual rankings...

Rob Lind: 4th in Walks
Brett Maxwell: Tied for 30th in Doubles
Mark Micowski: Tied for 16th in Hits
Ryan Fleming: Tied for 6th in Home Runs

It is also worth mentioning Will Campbell is tied for 11th in wins.

It's a great thing to be able to tell people "Georgia State baseball is one of the best offenses in the country", when you're trying to get them out to a game. Oh yeah, we have some pretty darn good pitching to boot. Come out and see this high power offense in a very important 3-game series with Old Dominion this weekend, Friday through Sunday. Game times are at 6 PM on Friday and 1 PM on Saturday and Sunday.

Basketball Signing Period Begins

While it's not likely to grab the TV shows on ESPNU or anywhere else, today marked the beginning of the late signing period for basketball.

From what I understand our women's basketball team led by second year head coach Sheryl Baldwin-Tener is expected to sign two this week, including top rated SF Miranda Smith, who I profiled here.

On the men's side, we have one scholarship available and Coach Ron Hunter has been actively recruiting with Asst. Coach Darryl Labarrie to find a much needed shooter.

For all of your updates, keep it locked here and to the PantherTalk.com Forums.

GSU Baseball Goes Round 2 with Alabama State

Photo Courtesy of MEACSWACSports.com

GSU is coming off a huge series win at James Madison and looks to continue momentum as they host always bat-friendly Alabama State today. This is the 2nd matchup of the two teams at Panthersville this season. The first meeting was back on March 15th when the Panthers clubbed the Hornets 14-4 in a staff pitching game. The Panthers enter today's game with a 25-9 record, being the fastest team to hit 25 wins on the season in school history. The Hornets enter at 11-16.

The Hornets bring a struggling and weak offense with a .264 team average but are scoring 6 runs per game in a hitting friendly league. However, only 1 starter with over 20 starts is hitting over .300 and a couple are flirting with .200. They have hit only 8 home runs and are slugging just .353 as a team. Jordan Mims has been the offensive crutch hitting .326 in 27 games with 12 RBI's, 2 doubles and a triple. The Hornets like to use their speed on the bases as they have 75 steals on the season in 89 attempts which is 3rd best in the NCAA. (Prior opponent James Madison is leading and GSU is tied for 12th.)

The starting pitcher is not yet known but the team ERA is 5.52 and they're allowing almost 7 runs per game this season. The Hornets have used 8 different starting pitchers this season with only 2 receiving at least 6 starts. The majority of their most frequently used pitchers are pitching around either 4.00 ERA or 6.00 ERA. No matter who is on the mound, the Panthers bats should have no problem connecting well with the ball.

The Panthers enter today's game with a .319 team batting average and slugging .489 as a team with 5 offensive regulars hitting above that mark. They've pulled their runs scored per game average up over 8. Look for Brett Maxwell to have a big game against this out-of-conference opponent as he's done all season hitting .483 outside the CAA. Ryan Fleming has been on a home run tear with 5 bombs in the last 6 games. I'd expect Ryan to send another ball over the left-center fence this evening. The Panthers should put up big runs for the 2nd time this year on the Hornets.

Freshman Sam Agnew-Wieland gets his 2nd start of the season today. He earned a win last week against a strong Mercer offense while pitching 5 innings and allowing just 3 runs off 5 hits and a walk. Sam has made 9 relief appearances, 2nd most on the team. Opposing batters are hitting only .243 off Sam and his WHIP is a 1.36. Certainly outstanding numbers for a true freshman, Panther fans (including myself) are ecstatic to have Sam on the team.

The Panthers pitching staff is coming off a great series where they held the NCAA's highest scoring offense to 18 runs in 3 games, nearly half their runs per game average. In fact, of the top 15 highest scoring offenses in the country, GSU has faced 3 of them going 5-1 in the 6 games and have held them all to around half their runs per game average. Those three teams are Mercer, Georgia Tech and James Madison.

Today's game should be two things for GSU. First it will be a game for the offense to keep their hitting eyes tuned up before a very good pitching team in ODU comes to Panthersville for a very important 3-game CAA series. Second, this should be a staff pitching game meaning it's an intentional "tune-up" outing for many guys. Sam will probably go 3 or 4 innings and then give way to another 3-5 pitchers to get work in. GO PANTHERS!!!

My Interview with Coach Ron Hunter

Special thanks to Ron Hunter for joining me last night.

SB Nation Atlanta Link

Checking In With Our Football Opponents: Houston

From my fellow SB Nation colleague Rivers McCown:

it was nice to see the White (defense) beat the Red (offense) in a 43-34 game that marked the end of the spring football season. UH has been held back by it's defense for a number of years, so any sign of optimism is a welcome one.

Cotton Turner started for the Red team, as Case Keenum is still recovering from his ACL injuries, and threw for 162 yards and two TD's. David Piland, who led the offense at the end of last year, tacked on 127 yards and a TD on 14-20 passing. The running game? Again, not much of a focus for the Coogs offense. Randall Hollimon led the charge with 62 yards on seven rushes.

Jon Witten recorded a team-high 10 tackles, and the White team managed six sacks (12 points) and seven defensive stops (7 points). D.J. Jones, a sophomore, notched the lone interception for the defense. The White team did still allow 643 yards of total offense, but if they're able to hold offenses of UH's caliber to 34 points, the Cougars may be able to win some of the shootouts that they couldn't last season.

Read the Full Blog Entry at SB Nation Houston.

What happens if Lambuth doesn't field a team in 2011?

As some of the hard core fans know, Lambuth University (who holds the distinguished title of our first ever defeat) has had had tremendous financial struggles since losing accreditation back in 2010.

The stories that came out after last season of employees not receiving checks on time, people wondering if they would have job and the tension of working with clouds of uncertainty surrounding the entire school.

Last week the school did a fundraiser with legendary comedian Bill Cosby to raise money to help keep the school going. 

I reached out to a local contact of mine and he used statements like "I really don't think Lambuth will be open by football season."  That the school was in "financial disrepair", and a shutdown could happen at the end of the semester.

Will we lose a home game (and more importantly a potential win)?  What will be our back up plan?  Will we just go with another Open Date between road games with first year program UTSA and D2 West Alabama?

Photo Courtesy of Victory Sports Network

Signee Jervon Pressley Released From LOI

Per ESPN Scouts, Inc.

My full write up at SB Nation Atlanta.

Women's Basketball Set to Sign #33 Ranked Wing in Country

According to the Franklin News Post, Coach Sheryl Baldwin-Tener and staff just landed a tremendous scorer in Patrick Henry HS (Virginia) Wing Miranda Smith. Smith is likely the highest rated recruit in the history of women's basketball at Georgia State.

She scored 912 points in her Sophomore and Junior seasons.  To give you an idea how nuts that is, you typically play 20-22 games per season before playoffs. That's an average of better than 20 points per game for her career at Franklin County HS before transferring to Patrick Henry for her Sr. year.

ESPN Scouts, Inc. rates her as the #33 Wing in the Country.

Photo Courtesy of Franklin News Post

DH Joey Wood is Out for the JMU Series

Joey Wood is still resting his back and will not be with the team at James Madison this weekend. Drew Shields will likely take his place as he did in the Delaware series where he went 5-for-9 at the plate with 3 RBIs.

Panthers Baseball at James Madison in CAA Play

Veterans Memorial Park @ James Madison University

This weekend's series features the expected 1st and 2nd place finishers in the CAA baseball standings for 2011 and will be a battle of the leagues best two offenses. The Panthers travel up to Virginia to take on the James Madison Dukes baseball team. With 3 out of 10 CAA series in the books for the season and a 5-4 record after such, this series is a must win series for the Panthers. The Dukes are tied for the lead in the CAA with a 10-5 record (.667 winning %). Of the five teams ahead of Georgia State (JMU, Delaware, UNCW, W&M and ODU) 4 including JMU are on the remaining schedule. This is good news because the Panthers have some control over their own destiny. It will take a series sweep for the Panthers to jump ahead of JMU in the standings.

Who: The James Madison University Dukes compete along with Georgia State in the CAA. They enter the series with a 21-9 record and 10-5 in the CAA. JMU returned 5 everyday starters from their 2010 team that finished 30-23 and 1st in the CAA at 18-6. A .750 CAA winning percentage will be tough to obtain as they would have to win 13 of the remaining 15 CAA games. With GSU, Delaware and UNCW on the schedule, I don't see this happening.

History/Common Opponents: JMU leads the all-time series by a dominate 14-2 advantage. Coach Frady has not been able to crack JMU as he's only 1-8 against them while at Georgia State with the lone win coming at home in Panthersville. GSU and JMU share 1 common opponent so far on the season, VCU. The Panthers lost 2-of-3 at home against VCU by scores of 11-8 (win), 6-10 (loss) and 8-17 (loss). The Dukes won 2-of-3 at home against VCU by scores of 12-8 (win), 2-4 (loss) and 4-1 (win). The Panthers scored more runs than JMU did against VCU however they also allowed more runs than JMU.

James Madison at the Plate: JMU enters the series 4th in NCAA team batting average, 2nd in runs scored (10.5 per game) and 1st in home runs and home runs per game. The Dukes are led offensively by 2010 standouts David Herbek (SS), Jake Lowery (C) and Alex Foltz (OF) whom all three are slugging over .600. David is hitting .385 with 12 home runs and slugging .812. He is 2nd on the team with 42 RBIs. Jake is hitting .379 with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs with a .911 slugging percentage. Alex hits .378 with 6 home runs and 22 RBIs, slugging .671. The Dukes have 58 home runs and are slugging .596 as a team, batting .338. Not only does the team have power but they have speed as well. They are 97-for-115 (85%) for stolen bases which is best in the CAA (and NCAA) over Georgia State by 34 stolen bases.

With all that said, this offense was only able to put up 16 runs in 3 games versus William & Mary one month ago. Georgia State and William & Mary are the CAA's leading pitching staffs and are very similar statistically. More on this in the pitching preview.

James Madison on the Mound: To say a team with a 21-9 record has a weakness sounds crazy, but pitching is the Duke's weakness. They are 2nd to last in the league with a 6.67 ERA and are allowing 7 runs per game. JMU pitching has allowed opposing batters a .284 average and have a WHIP of 1.7 which is tied for 2nd highest in the CAA. One of the major issues for JMU has been walks allowed. They are giving batters a free base nearly 6 times per game this season.

Weekend starters as follows:

Alex Valadja (Sr., LH) - Alex is 3-2 with a 7.50 ERA in 7 starts. He's pitched 42 innings and allowed 36 runs on 51 hits and 20 walks (WHIP 1.7). Opposing batters are hitting .304 against him and he's allowed 6 home runs. Alex pitched 7 innings and received the loss against VCU after allowing 4 runs off 7 hits and 3 walks. He threw 125 pitches in the outing so coach isn't afraid to leave him out there while he's pitching well. VCU score 1 run in the 2nd and 3rd and then he coasted until the 8th inning.

D.J. Brown (So., RH) - DJ is 4-0 with a 5.91 ERA in 7 starts. Similar numbers to Alex only he's allowed 16 walks and batters are hitting .293 against him. He's a strikeout threat with almost 1 per inning thus far. DJ pitched a complete game against VCU and earned the win while allowing only 1 run (unearned).

Evan Scott (Jr., RH) - Evan is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA after 7 starts. Evan has had walk issues this season allowing 34 free bases in 38.1 innings pitched. However, batters are hitting just .231 against him. His numbers output a 1.7 WHIP. Evan pitched 4.2 innings against VCU and allowed 3 runs (all earned) off 3 hits and 3 walks.

The JMU relief staff has been more a weakness than the starters. They don't have a shut-down reliever so runs are possible after knocking out the starter. Their most effective reliever so far has been Trent Cundiff who's appeared in 10 games going 12.2 innings and allowed 8 runs. He has a 4.97 ERA and batters are .298 against him. The other go-to guys are Josh Futter (5.23 ERA), James Weiner (5.32 ERA) and Nick Slogik (5.91 ERA). The 7th inning has not been friendly to the pitching staff as that's their highest run total allowed with 32 runs allowed.

GSU at the Plate: The Panthers offense enters with a .319 team batting average and is tied for 2nd in the NCAA in doubles and 6th in runs scored. The offense is scoring almost 8 runs per game this season. Brett Maxwell and Brandon Williams still lead the team with a .408 and .386 batting average. Brett is slugging .602 and leads the team with 13 doubles on the year and a .492 on-base percentage. Mark Micowski is hitting .354 with 25 RBIs and Ryan Fleming is leading the team with 9 home runs and 35 RBIs. Joey Wood has been out with a minor back injury and was missed in the Delaware series, I'm trying to confirm his status for this weekend.

GSU on the Mound: The Panthers still have one of the best pitching staffs in the CAA. The team ERA of 4.40 is good for 2nd, behind W&M at 4.24. The Panthers are allowing 5.25 runs per game and opponents are hitting .270 against them. Weekend rotation as follows:

Will Campbell (Sr., RH) - Will gets a shot at the weekend rotation here giving Aidan Francis the chance to be used as a relief pitcher. Will takes the mound Friday with a CAA best 6-0 record. He is one of just 19 pitchers in the NCAA with 6 wins and one of just 13 with at least a 6-0 record. Will has 2.90 ERA and opposing batters have been dumbfounded at the plate hitting only .180 against him. His WHIP is currently 0.89.

Charley Olson (Sr., RH) - Charley has a 2-3 record yet just a 3.72 ERA. Charley has been plagued by lack of offensive support and defensive miscues. He is striking out almost 1 batter per inning and has allowed only 10 walks. Charley's WHIP is 1.34. Charley had a good outing against VCU going 6 innings and allowing only 2 earned runs however 4 runs were scored due to 5 Georgia State errors. He allowed just 1 walk and struck out 8 in the game. His last outing at Delaware was another that should have resulted in a win yet he was stuck with the loss after going 7 innings and allowing 5 runs (4 earned) due to 4 errors behind him. He walked just 1 and struck out 6.

Justin Malone (Jr., RH) - Justin will take the tail-end of the weekend with a 5-0 record. His ERA is 3.99 but batters have caught on to him recently as they're now .327 against him. He's struggled a little as of lately but had a decent game at Delaware. He went 5.2 innings allowing only 3 runs (2 earned) with no walks and 7 strikeouts. Justin has shown excellent command in his pitches this season as he's allowed just 7 walks in 38.1 innings. Even though Justin has had some shaky outings (against arguably good offenses) recently the Panthers are still 6-1 in the games he's started.

This is a tough series to call. It's a powerful and fast offense vs. great pitching (JMU vs. GSU) and a greatly efficient and relatively less powerful and fast offense vs. league low pitching. More times than not good pitching wins the battle against good hitting. William & Mary showed that good pitching can calm the offensive giant known as JMU. They allowed only 16 runs to the JMU bats and could have taken the series but they didn't (and still don't) have a good offense. They were able to score only 11 runs against the same group of starters we'll see this weekend. The Dukes scored 10 of their 16 runs in the final 3 innings against poor relievers so the W&M starters did a great job at keeping JMU at bay. We have equal if not better starters going against JMU this weekend so I expect at least the same by us.

I love the fact that Frady is giving Campbell the start today. He has earned it and Aidan needs a game to rest his head and start having fun again. I'm sure he'll still pitch in the series in a relief role.

Georgia State is still the "complete package" in the CAA with VCU and UNC Wilmingon being the next closest thing to it. On paper, GSU should be able to score more in this series than JMU because we both have good offenses but we're by far the better pitching team. Our pitching bests theirs by a bigger margin than their offense bests ours. Last note here will be about defense. Our infield absolutely must play clean baseball. They committed 6 errors against VCU and 5 against Delaware. You cannot give this JMU offense that many free passes here.

We need 2-of-3 here but that still won't put us back above JMU, a sweep is the only way to do that this weekend. Winning less than two is not an option. Go get 'em boys. GO PANTHERS!!!

One Week Countdown: Spring Game

Photo Courtesy of DMac via Twitter



BTW, PantherTalk.com will be in full effect in the Orange Lot.  Come by and say hello and grab some PT swag.  More information....Click the Link

One on One With Former GSU Student Chris Bridges

Who?  Oh yeah, you may know him by his stage name...

GSU News Link

RB Brian Grove is Offer #5 for 2012

Brian Grove is Offer #5 for 2012

Photo Courtesy Carline Jean, Sun Sentinel

The Skinny: 5'10 185 RB with speed, speed and more speed.  This dude is a HR threat every time he touches the ball.

Junior Stats: 1,536 yards and 20 TDs
Sophomore Stats: 73 carries, 633 yards, 9 TDs

Junior Highlights

Rivals.com  Profile

ESPN Scouts, Inc. Profile

Michael Hall Digging His Move to ILB

GSU Sports Link

Updated: Swainsboro ATH Lynquez Blair Signs with Panthers

ATH Lynquez Blair is signee #11 for '11

Photo Courtesy of BeRecruited.com

Swainsboro HS ATH Lynquez Blair has signed with Georgia State and is the 11th signee in the 2011 recruiting cycle.  Blair is expected to join the team in June for summer workouts with the other eight freshman.

Nice breakdown by Troup Brinson from the Swainsboro Forest Blade:

First of all he is a leader and a great kid. He is the kind of player programs need to build success.

He played QB last year but that was out of necessity. His best seasons came as a sophomore and junior at WR. He runs excellent routes and can run away from defenders on crossing routes. Not really a deep, over the top threat in my opinion. More of a possession receiver but who knows. He was a go-to, playmaker in our offense but we had a sensational QB who put the ball on the money. So I'm not sure if Blair will be a star...but he will be dependable and an important cog.

He also might have value at DB. Didn't play there a ton in high school though. He is a good kick returner as he has had long returns for TDs. Not so good at punt returner as he seemed unsure when catching the ball in those situations.

Again, good athlete...maybe not a game breaker. Very smart and a great leader.

Swainsboro Forest Blade Link

SB Nation Atlanta Link

Senior Highlights

Men's Golf Coach Reflects on Winning Par 3 at Augusta

Pretty cool story about our men's golf coach, Joe Inman, winning the Par 3 contest at the Master's.

AJC Link

Jackson Clarion Ledger: Barnes back, building beginning in Bakersfield

Interesting nuggets in this one.

Clarion Ledger.com Link

VCU's Run Nets Georgia State $193K

Not too shabby.  Thanks to the Rams for this.  As we discussed a few weeks ago, the CAA does not share profits equally and rewards the teams who actually compete in the postseason. 

Let's hope we can return the favor very soon.

Wilmington Star News Link

AJC: GSU Knows Success against VCU

Scoreboard don't lie.

Photo Courtesy of Mike Holmes, GSU Sports Communications

Yes we do.  Ask them about that whoopin' in the GSU Sports Arena that lit a fire under them.  Coach Smart, we'll take our fruit basket once you get settled after that enormous raise in either Raleigh or Columbia.

On a serious note, great work by our guy Ken at the AJC. 

I hope you have enjoyed the tremendous coverage in the last 2 months.  There are many working behind the scenes to push Georgia State on the pages and getting in front of new eyes and ears daily.

AJC Link

ATH Justin Simmons is Offer #4

Justin Simmons snatches an offer from the Panthers

Photo Courtesy of TCPalm.com

I give our coaching staff credit, we like shopping for recruits in the Treasure Coast of Florida.  Justin Simmons of Martin County HS (Stuart, FL) is the 4th offer from Coach Bill Curry and the coaching staff.

DB Coach Anthony Midget is combing his state very well and I'm glad to see going after these guys early.  We are Simmons' first confirmed offer which is huge.

Rivals.com Profile

Junior Highlights

SB Nation Atlanta Link

Coach Hunter on XL950 in Indy

More nuggets from CRH.

XL950 Link

Panthers Baseball Travels to Delaware for CAA Series

After trouncing the Florida A&M Rattlers at home on Tuesday by a score of 16-0, the Georgia State Panthers face Delaware in an important CAA 3-game series. This is a battle for 1st place because of winning percentages. James Madison, UNCW, Delaware and GSU are all tied for 1st in the CAA due to each team having a .667 CAA winning percentage. Georgia State still leads in overall record at 21-6. GSU is 4-3 in games away from Panthersville this season.

Who: The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are a fellow CAA team who enter the series with a 13-12 record, 6-3 in the CAA. So far this season Delaware is on pace with their 2010 record, winning 52% of their games finishing with a 27-24 record and 9-15 in the CAA.

History/Common Opponents: GSU is 7-5 all-time against Delaware (since 2006) and Coach Frady is 5-4 against them. The Panthers last faced the Blue Hens in the 2009 Championship season where they took 2-of-3 in Newark. The teams have not faced any common opponents to-date in the 2011 season.

Delaware at the Plate: Delaware enters the series near the bottom of the CAA in most offensive categories. The team is hitting .258 and is scoring 5.5 runs per game. They've had flashes of power with 13 home runs through their 25 games yet have not been aggressive or effective in stealing bases as they have 11 steals through 18 attempts which is good for last in the CAA. Senior Pat Dameron, usual 2-hole hitter, leads the offense with a .370 batting average and is second with 19 RBI's. He also leads starters with a .492 on-base percentage and is 4-4 in stolen bases. The Hen's standout first baseman Steve Ulaky is hitting .315 and leads the team with 6 home runs and 23 RBI's. One statistic that stands out for Steve is he has only 4 walks and 8 strikeouts in 111 at-bats this season. This guy must be patient at the plate and really good at making contact with the ball. Ulaky hits 3rd for the Blue Hens. Beyond Dameron and Ulaky there isn't anyone to be scared of in the lineup. All other starters are hitting below .300 with low slugging percentages which means they're not doing too much damage outside of occasional singles.

Delaware on the Mound: The Blue Hen pitching staff has an ERA of 4.67 which is good for 4th in the CAA behind GSU, W&M and ODU. They have allowed a touch over 6 runs per game this season. This weekend's rotation will be the following:

Eric Young (Jr., RH) - Eric is 2-2 after 6 starts with a 3.86 ERA. He has a 3:2 strikeout to walk ratio and batters are hitting .248 against him. Eric has a 1.2 WHIP. He is a new member of the pitching staff after transferring in from junior college.

Dan Gatto (Fr., RH) - Dan earned a spot in the weekend rotation as a freshman and has put up a 1-2 record through 4 starts and 1 relief appearance. He has an ERA of 3.26 after pitching 19.1 innings. Dan has a WHIP of 1.6 and has even walks-to-strikeouts.

Chad Kuhl (Fr., RH) - Chad is 1-1 after 4 starts and 2 relief appearances with a 3.51 ERA. Chad has a 1.6 WHIP and has thrown 21 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. Batters are hitting .264 against him. As you can see, none of these 3 starters have been pounded for runs so the Panthers lineup faces a good group of starters.

The two most frequently used relievers have starter like stats at ERAs of 3.09 and 3.63, while not as low as you'd like from your top relievers they're not giving up many runs either.

GSU at the Plate: The Panthers offense has adjusted to the new NCAA bats and have hit for double-digits in 13 straight games now. This offense entered the week ranked 12th in the nation in hits, leads the NCAA in doubles and is 2nd in walks. The team is batting .318 which is 2nd in the CAA behind James Madison (.346). The offense is now scoring 8 runs per game but has scored over 10 runs per game in during the last 13. Brett Maxwell is coming off a great game at the plate and still leads the offense with a .432 batting average which places him 2nd in the CAA. Brett is also slugging .642 with 11 doubles and 2 home runs on the season. Leadoff hitter Mark Micowski continues his hot hitting as his average sits at .348 and is 2nd on the team with 20 RBI's.

GSU on the Mound: The Panthers pitching staff still holds the title of being the best in the CAA. The team ERA is 4.13 and they've allowed 5 runs per game. They are 2nd in the CAA in hits allowed per game at 8.7, William & Mary only betters them by .2 hits per game. The group has the least amount of home runs allowed at 9 and has the lowest batting average against at .259. Weekend starters are:

Aidan Francis (Sr., LH) - Aidan is 4-0 through 6 starts in 2011 with a 5.40 ERA. While he gave up 5 runs through 6 innings against VCU last Friday, he has won 8 straight decisions going back into the 2010 season. Opposing batters are hitting .290 against Aidan.

Charley Olsen (Sr., RH) - Charley is 2-2 on the season with a 3.41 ERA. Opposing hitters are just .268 against him at the plate. He has almost 1 strikeout per inning pitched on the season and only 9 walks through 31.2 innings. He also has the best WHIP number of the 3 starters at 1.3. Charley seems to keep getting the mound on the toughest day of the series as he's pitched better than a 2-2 record. I think he has the most favorable pitching matchup of the weekend against Delaware so let's hope he can notch his 3rd win.

Justin Malone (Jr., RH) - Justin enters with a 4-0 record and a 4.13 ERA. Malone is coming off an uncharacteristic outing against VCU last Sunday. He went only 2.2 innings and allowed 5 runs on 11 hits. This has been his only blemish on the season. Even after this rough outing he still has a WHIP of 1.5, still a good number for your starter.

The relief crew continues to be outstanding for the Panthers. Jake Dyer, Sam Agnew-Wieland, Nick Squeglia and Jeremy Gazerro have been the go-to guys so far this season. Their ERAs are 1.59, 1.93, 2.55 and 4.61 respectively and have given up only 23 runs through 69.1 innings. These guys are giving opposing batters nothing to work with as the batters are hitting .228, .235, .200 and .235 against them. That's great stuff and is a large reason the Panthers sit at a 21-6 record.


This series gives us what I think is the toughest group of starters we've faced so far. Maybe not the best individual talent, but definitely the most solid group across the 3-game series. With that said, the advantage goes to the Panthers as we're throwing 2 seniors and a junior at them while they bring a junior and 2 freshman. Our 3 starters have thrown 96 innings and they've thrown just 75.1 innings. The Panther offense should be too much for these guys and will hopefully leave a stain on their statistics similar to how VCU did us last weekend. I think we take 2-of-3 which given the expected cool conditions on the road in conference play, against a good set of young starters, will be a good outcome.

Coach Ron Hunter on WRBB Sports

Interesting nuggets on schedule, recruiting and your ideal players from CRH but great to see our CAA brethren taking an opportunity to speak with our coach.

WRBB Link