Panther Baseball Weekly Update: 2/26-3/4

Panther Baseball Weekly Update: 2/26-3/4

Photo credit: Georgia State Athletics

The gauntlet that is Georgia State baseball’s non-conference schedule continued, but the Panthers picked up two more ranked wins, their best-ever ranked win at #2 Vanderbilt on Friday night and a 10-1 beatdown of Georgia Tech in a Wednesday afternoon city of Atlanta showdown. Here are the results from the week in Panthers’ baseball:

Panthers’ record entering week: 2-3

Ryan Watson wracked up 7 strikeouts in 5 innings, Elian Merejo hit a mammoth 2-run home run in the top of the 9th, and the Panthers knocked off the reigning champions of NCAA Division I baseball in the series opener.

The Panthers overcome a 4-0 deficit in Game 2 of the weekend to knot it up at 4, but Vandy took the lead through a Carter Young solo shot in the bottom of the 7th and held on to even the series.

The weekend finished with a Sunday double-header and the bats exploded for the Commodores, while Georgia State’s hitter faced the pedigree of two future top 10 MLB Draft picks in Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. The Panthers lost both games by lopsided scores.

Georgia State returned to their home city to face in-town adversaries Georgia Tech. After a quieter day on Sunday, it was time for the Panthers to do some hitting, as Will Mize and Kyle Riesselmann each hit two-run home runs to help power them past the #10-ranked Jackets. Mason Patel provided six innings of one-hit ball and the rout was on.

Season stat leaders to date:

• Batting average – SS Will Mize, 1B Ashby Smith (.412)
• Home runs – 1B/DH Elian Merejo, SS Will Mize (2)
• RBIs – 1B/DH Elian Merejo (9)
• Wins – Rafael Acosta, Camren Landry, Mason Patel, Ryan Watson (1)
• ERA – Rafael Acosta, Camren Landry (0.00)
• Strikeouts – Ryan Watson (14)

Upcoming games:

• @ #17 Tennessee (3) – March 5-7
• @ Florida – March 9

* Box score template by Operation Sports (https://dynasties.operationsports.com/generator.php?act=create&gid=1&sport=mlb)