Rose, Bates Sweep Sun Belt Honors for Georgia State Baseball

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Georgia State swept the Sun Belt Conference weekly baseball awards as infielder Matt Rose was named Player of the Week and right-hander Nathan Bates was selected Pitcher of the Week.

Bates is the first Panther to capture the Pitcher-of-the-Week honor in the Sun Belt Conference, while Rose is GSU’s second Player of the Week in the Sun Belt since returning to the league in 2014. Georgia State has both the Player and Pitcher of the Week for the first time in any conference since May 2, 2011, when pitcher Will Campbell and infielder Rob Lind were honored by the Colonial Athletic Association.

A 6-7 junior from Senoia, Ga. (Starr’s Mill High School), Bates took a no-hitter into the seventh inning to lead Georgia State to an 11-3, Opening Day victory over Fordham. He faced the minimum through 6.2 innings before allowing a single with two outs in the seventh. He then recorded his eighth strikeout for the final out of the inning and turned it over to the bullpen. Bates allowed no runs on one hit with eight strikeouts and just one walk.

Playing first and third base, Rose opened the season with three home runs and six RBI in three games. The Preseason All-American went 5-for-11 (.455) with a 1.273 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base mark. Rose belted two homers and drove in four runs to lead the Panthers to an 11-3, Opening Day win over Fordham. He hit his third homer, a two-run blast, Saturday to help GSU take a 6-3 lead over No. 23 Liberty into the ninth inning before falling in extra frames. He also scored three runs and walked three times.

The junior from Melbourne, Fla. (Palm Bay High School), now has 18 career homers.