The Grand Canyon University baseball team is set to host Pacific West Conference foe Hawai’i Hilo in a pair of doubleheaders this weekend at Brazell Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz.
Today’s doubleheader will begin at 4 p.m. and will also be broadcast live on
www.GCULopes.com. GCU play-by-play voice and alum, Michael Potter, will call all of the action today. Tomorrow’s doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Grand Canyon enters the weekend with an overall record of 12-15, 9-11 in the conference. The Antelopes have played better recently, winning seven of their last 10 games. Hilo enters the game with a 5-20 record, 2-14 in the league. The two sides met in Hilo, Hawai’i on March 1 and 2, with the ‘Lopes taking three of four from the Vulcans at Wong Stadium.
“It is nice to have Hilo at our place this weekend,” said head coach Andy Stankiewicz. “We now have four games that we can base them on. Our guys had a chance to see their pitchers and hopefully can now go to the plate with a greater sense of what they need to do. But of course, they do as well with our guys. We have been playing better and offensively we are gaining a better understanding of who we are as a team. Hopefully what we have seen as of late will continue to progress this weekend against Hilo.”
GCU has been led offensively by
Michael Pomeroy and
Derek Mendoza. Pomeroy leads the team with a .456 batting average (47-for-103), while teammate Mendoza is close behind, hitting .453 (43-for-95). The two currently rank first and second among all PacWest hitters.
The key to the second-half surge by the Antelopes has come from the pitching staff. The staff, under the tutelage of pitching coach Nathan Choate, has amassed a 2.41 ERA over the last 16 games and dropped the overall team ERA by almost three full runs in the span. Among PacWest qualifiers, freshman
Jorge Perez (1-2) is sixth with a 2.86 ERA.
Justin Lindsey (4-3) and
Brady Wager (3-3) are currently eight, nine in the league, holding 3.61 and 4.43 ERA’s, respectively. While not among the league qualifiers,
Coltin White has solidified the staff with stellar work out of the bullpen. White enters the weekend a 2.38 ERA in 11 appearances (22.2 IP).
The Antelopes will be back at home again next weekend as they host Hawai’i Pacific in a four-game set at Brazell Stadium on March 30 and 31. The doubleheader on March 30 is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., with first pitch on March 31 beginning at 1 p.m.