Baseball Panthers Visit UNC-Wilmington

The GSU Panthers baseball teams starts a very important 3-game series with UNC-Wilmington Seahawks today ending Sunday. GSU enters the game with a 33-13 overall record and 13-8 CAA record after sweeping the Hofstra Pride last weekend. UNCW enters play at 24-21 overall and 12-9 in the CAA. The Panthers currently hold the 3rd spot for the CAA Championship tournament and the Seahawks are sitting 5th after being swept by James Madison last weekend.

Starting Pitching Matchups:

Game 1 – Georgia State sends senior Charley Olson to the mound to face Daniel Cropper. Charley is 5-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 10 starts. In CAA games, he is 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA with one complete game against James Madison. Opposing CAA batters are hitting .293 against him and he has a WHIP of 1.27 against CAA play. UNCW’s Cropper is the best starter on paper the Panthers face this weekend. He is 6-2 with a 4.35 ERA and is also making his 11th start. Daniel leads the Seahawks with 60 strikeouts and he’s done it through just 62 innings for a K/IP ratio near 1.0. During CAA play he is 5-2 with a 5.27 ERA. Opposing CAA batters are hitting .294 against him. The Seahawks were rocked in Daniel’s last outing on April 29th at James Madison by a score of 12-2. Daniel pitched just 2.1 innings and allowed 5 runs. Both pitchers have shown good control issuing only 15 walks on the season, Charley does have 4.2 more innings pitched than Daniel but the BB/IP ratio is still very close (.24/IP). Advantage: Georgia State. Olson is pitching hot right now (3-0 in last 4 starts) and Cropper has been inconsistent in his last 4 starts and he gives up the long ball (8 in 7 game starts).

Game 2 – CAA co-wins leader Will Campbell takes the mound for the Panthers to face Travis Bradley. Campbell is 7-1 with a 2.67 ERA overall and is 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA in CAA play. Will has a CAA WHIP of just 1.10 after allowing only 30 hits and 3 walks in 30 innings pitched. Opposing CAA batters are hitting .268 against him. Will is coming off a complete game shutout at home against Hofstra. Hofstra managed just 4 hits off the senior righty. The Seahawk’s Travis Bradley is 1-4 with a 3.41 ERA and is making his 5th start. His last start came at James Madison where he received the loss in a 7.1 inning effort while allowing 6 runs off 9 hits and 2 walks. CAA batters are hitting .320 against Bradley. Advantage: Georgia State. Like Olson, Campbell is also hot. While the Panthers are 2-2 in his last 4 starts, he has allowed just 7 earned runs in those 4 games against lineups including James Madison and Old Dominion. Bradley has only beat Hofstra, no impressive feat and he gives up some hits.

Game 3 – For the final game of the series we’ll see the Panthers send Justin Malone against Tyler McSwain. Justin is undefeated at 6-0 with a 3.76 ERA overall. During CAA play he is 2-0 with a 4.89 ERA. CAA batters are hitting .280 against Justin and he has a WHIP of 1.25. Justin has thrown just 7 walks in 42.1 innings pitched during CAA play. His control has been outstanding all season. UNCW’s McSwain is 3-4 with a 5.22 ERA on the season. He is 3-2 in CAA play but he has an ERA of 6.35 showing he’s received good run support. It’s tough to have a winning record with a 6.35 ERA unless your offense is putting up some runs for you. McSwain is coming off a tough outing against Hofstra after allowing 5 runs off 8 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 innings. CAA batters are hitting .292 against Tyler and he has a CAA WHIP of over 1.60. Advantage: Georgia State. Honestly, I’m being unbiased here. Malone has been a better pitcher all season and as of lately than Tyler McSwain. I think it’s fair to say each one of the Panthers starter has hit a rough spot this season (who doesn’t) but they’re all pitching well right now.

Relief Pitching:

Jake Dyer, Nick Squeglia, Sam Agnew-Wieland and Aidan Francis. That is the list of weapons Georgia State can throw at UNC-Wilmington if needed. Dyer has allowed just 1 run in CAA relief in 10 appearances and earned 7 saves. Squeglia and Francis are basically high quality starting pitchers and Sam has allowed just 22 hits in 27.2 innings pitched and racked up 32 strikeouts in the process. The Seahawks have 2 go-to relievers, Jack Lane and Travis Bradley. Bradley is starting this weekend so he’s out of the picture for any relief effort. Jack has allowed 4 runs in 15 innings of CAA relief. Beyond Jack, the relief pitching is so-so at best with ERA’s over 4.00 and opposing batting averages near or beyond .300. Advantage: Georgia State. The Panthers don’t blow many leads because of a breakdown in relief pitching. The bullpen depth is much deeper on the Panthers side. This goes a long ways in a series where both teams have good offenses such as this one.

Offense:

The Panthers offense has scored 7 runs per game during CAA play while the Seahawks have scored 6.6 and the team batting averages are .318 for the Panthers and .319 for the Seahawks. This shows how evenly matched the offenses are. The teams are scoring by the same methods as well. Slugging percentages are .469 for the Panthers and .474 for the Seahawks. The Panthers have 16 home runs, the Seahawks have 17. The Seahawks hold an edge in the stolen base category with 35 steals in 47 attempts. The Panthers are 26-for-36 in CAA games. Because Saturday holds a double-header, bench depth will come into play and the teams are about deadlocked there as well. The two lineups look similar as far as individual performance. There’s not a weak spot in either lineup and there is no one individual carrying the weight of the team on their shoulders. Mark Micowski leads the Panthers in CAA play with a .425 batting average and he has 19 RBIs. Rob Lind is hitting .397 with 15 RBIs and Ryan Fleming leads with 22 RBIs on 7 home runs and a .299 batting average. The Seahawks are led by Thomas Pope with a .480 average. He has 16 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Hunter Ridge leads with 21 RBIs on a .371 batting average during CAA play. To summarize here, this is a very evenly matched offensive matchup.

This series is going to come down to pitching strength. The Panthers have the edge in both starting matchups and bullpen depth so I expect a series win. If the Panthers are able to pull off 2 wins at Brooks Field they’ll be sitting in a great position to hold onto their tournament spot. A series loss for the Seahawks may be the last nail in the coffin for their hopes at making the CAA championship tournament. With the remaining schedules for the tournament teams assuming GSU wins the series, it will be tough for the Seahawks to climb back in. Basically, this is a must-win for both teams in order to make the tournament. GO PANTHERS!!!