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.
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