A year after finishing tied for last in the Sun Belt, Georgia State’s baseball team sits atop the traditionally tough conference.
Turning around last year’s 11-19 conference finish into this year’s 13-3 record falls to three things: better pitching, better defense and more experience. Georgia State (26-15) will play at South Alabama (26-16, 11-7 Sun Belt) in a three-game series that starts Friday.
“It’s the production of our entire roster and our consistency that has put us in this position,” coach Greg Frady said.
The team’s two-game sweep of Appalachian State last week exhibited most of the qualities that the Panthers have shown this year: Georgia State won the first game 4-3 in 12 innings behind strong pitching from starter Nathan Bates and closer Kevin Burgee.
The second game saw the Panthers score nine runs, including a two-run homer by Matt Rose, in the final two innings to take a 15-13 victory.
“Everybody wants the team to win, no matter what,” Bates said. “It creates a lot of chemistry. A lot of our late-game runs have been sparked by good team chemistry.”
It took some time for the Panthers to adjust after they moved from the Colonial Athletic Association, not known for baseball, to the Sun Belt, which is.
The team was loaded with hitters, but injuries forced some players who probably were better served as designated hitters into everyday position players. The result was 98 errors, or 1.75 per game.
On top of that the team had average pitching. When average pitching plays in front of below-average defense, the pitching suddenly becomes below average. The result was a team ERA of 5.81. As good as the hitting was with a .294 batting average .460 slugging percentage, it can be hard to produce when more is always needed.
“Our identity was to outscore,” Frady said. “It’s tough as a coach knowing that.”
It’s a cycle that was hard for the Panthers to break, and usually happened only when they outslugged teams, which they occasionally did, with wins of 15-9, 19-5 and 11-10. But there were games in which they didn’t, with losses of 19-13, 16-1 and 14-6.
Frady said he and his staff made a commitment in the offseason to developing the team’s defense and starting pitching and putting the relief pitchers in the right roles to complement Burgee.
“And then build enough toughness to never give up,” Frady said.
With a year of experience and an offseason devoted to developing strength and chemistry, the turn around has been impressive.
The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.98, almost two runs less than last season, and the defense has committed only 56 errors, or 1.2 per game.
“It’s giving us a chance to win every game,” Frady said.
With the pitching staff keeping the team in games, the offense, led by Rose’s Division I-leading 14 home runs, has proved capable of winning the low-scoring games or the slugfests. The batting average of .287 isn’t quite as high as last season’s, but the wins are what matters.
After admittedly being horrible on the road last season with a 3-12 record, the Panthers are 7-0 in conference road games this year.
To keep the run going, Frady said the team must keep its focus, something it has become very good at in winning Sun Belt games in their final at bat.
“Only thing that matters is how you play that day,” he said. “The reality is the best teams do that the best.”
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