GCU Baseball Preview: Cal Baptist

&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;THE &amp;lsquo;LOPES...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;Are playing the first of four games at new Pacific West Conference opponent Cal Baptist with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. Arizona time...GCU will also play the Lancers tomorrow at 3 p.m. and on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at noon.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;vs. CAL BAPTIST--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;The Antelopes and Lancers are meeting for the first time this season and first time since a 3-1 loss at Cal Baptist on Feb. 1, 2005...the &amp;lsquo;Lopes own a 4-6-1 record against Cal Baptist...the Mavericks have amassed a 119-54 overall record in the last three seasons...they advanced to the NAIA World Series in 2010 and to the Opening Round last season...they were selected to pick second in the PacWest.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&amp;nbsp;LAST TIME OUT--&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;The &amp;lsquo;Lopes won the series finale against Colorado Mesa on Feb. 5 to split the four-game, opening weekend series with the Mavericks...Justin Lindsay got the win and Mark Jarrett secured his second straight save...P.J. Garcia hit his third homer of the series.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;ROSTER BREAKDOWN--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;The Antelopes enter the 2012 season with a veteran roster, featuring 12 seniors, 12 juniors, three sophomores and seven freshmen.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;PACWEST PREDICTIONS--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;Grand Canyon was predicted to finish fourth in the PacWest Conference preseason poll, as voted on by the conference head coaches...GCU received 21 points in the poll...Dixie State was picked for the top spot in the poll, garnering four first place votes...Cal Baptist received two first-place votes for second and Hawai&amp;rsquo;i Pacific came in third. Hawai&amp;rsquo;i Hilo was seen as a fifth-place finisher by the coaches, with Academy of Art rounding out the field.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&amp;nbsp;MORE POLLS--&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;The &amp;lsquo;Lopes were ranked in a tie for 10th in the NCBWA West Region preseason poll that was released last week...Sonoma State earned the top spot in the region with five first-place votes. PacWest members, Dixie State (T-No. 4) and Hawai&amp;rsquo;i Pacific (No. 9) were also represented in the region top-10. GCU was one of only two schools to be ranked in their respective region poll coming off a losing season in 2011.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;HOME SLATE--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;Grand Canyon&amp;rsquo;s home schedule will feature 24 games this season...last season the &amp;lsquo;Lopes were 14-11 at Brazell Stadium and 16-9 in 2010.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;CAN IT GET ANY TOUGHER--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;Andy Stankiewicz did not mess around in seeing what type of team he had this season, scheduling one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. Reading above tells you everything you need to know about Colorado Mesa and their program&amp;rsquo;s success. Did we mention the three-game road trip to play Baseball America&amp;rsquo;s preseason No. 1 University of Tampa? Well we did now. Also on the schedule is a single game at Cal Poly Pomona. Pomona is ranked No.24 in the NCBWA National Poll. GCU will close out the season with a two-game set at UC San Diego, who comes into the NCBWA National Poll at No. 19.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;STARTING PITCHER BREAKDOWN--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;Following the season-opening series against Colorado Mesa, GCU starters Brady Wager, Cody Repenning, David Wydeven and Justin Lindsey combined to post a 3.27 ERA (eight earned runs in 22.0 innings pitched) with 13 strikeouts and just three walks...Wager collected a team-high seven strikeouts on Feb. 3 in the season-opener, while allowing three runs on five hits over 6.0 innings...Lindsey also allowed three runs in 6.0 innings in the series finale...Wydeven tossed 5.0 scoreless innings in the second game of Saturday&amp;rsquo;s doubleheader.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HITTING NOTES--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;The Antelopes are batting .320 (40-for-125) through four games this season...they have scored 18 runs, while posting a .434 on-base percentage and .472 slugging percentage.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&amp;nbsp;ON THE MOUND--&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;The Antelopes pitching staff has compiled a 3.18 ERA (12 ER in 34.0 IP) with 21 strikeouts and only 4 walks so far this season...opponents are hitting just .266 against &amp;lsquo;Lopes hurlers.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;GLOVE WORK--&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;The Antelopes have committed 8 errors through four games this season for a .950 fielding percentage...additionally, GCU has caught 1-of-3 basestealers.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;a href="/documents/2012/2/9/GCU_GN4.pdf?id=2265"&gt;More notes...&lt;/a&gt;

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