Season Preview: Baseball

Friday, February 13

Brazell Stadium

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

North Dakota State

Head coach Andy Stankiewicz

Photo by: Theon Carrier

2/6/2015 11:24:00 AM | Baseball

Lopes host trio of teams this weekend in GCU Classic

The Grand Canyon University baseball team is coming off an impressive return to the Division I ranks and will look to build on their 2014 campaign when they open regular season play on Friday, Feb. 13 as part of the inaugural GCU Classic at Brazell Stadium.

The Antelopes will kick off the 2015 season with the GCU Classic this weekend. Click here to view the game notes for this weekend's tounament.

GCU was recently tabbed to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference behind last season's champion, Sacramento State.

"We expect to be as good, or better, than we were last year," said head coach Andy Stankiewicz. "Every year you are trying to grow the program to get better. We scheduled pretty aggressively, so I know there will be moments that are frustrating, but we just have to be patient and continue to look at the big picture. We want to play really well at the end of the year and be in contention to win a WAC title, which is our number one goal."

"When we are postseason eligible, we want our guys to have played in big ballparks and against great programs," added Stankiewicz.

GCU will host 28 games in the friendly confines of Brazell Stadium, including nine of their first 13 contests. Intermingled in that stretch of home games is a trip to San Luis Obispo to take on Cal Poly from Feb. 20-22. The Mustangs were ranked as high as No. 1 according to Collegiate Baseball during the 2014 season.

Kansas, who advanced to the 2014 NCAA Tournament, will make the trip to Phoenix for two-game midweek series on March 3-4. The March 3 contest, along with GCU's game against UNLV on Feb. 17 at Brazell Stadium, will be broadcast live on Cox7.

The Lopes will take on perennial baseball powers Tennessee (March 6-8) and Oklahoma State (March 13-15) in back-to-back weekends on the road.

WAC play opens with North Dakota at home from March 20-22. UTPA (April 3-5), Northern Colorado (April 10-12), Seattle U (May 1-3), and Bakersfield (May 8-10) will also make the trip to Phoenix for conference matchups at Brazell Stadium.

GCU will take on Chicago State (March 27-29), New Mexico State (April 17-19), Utah Valley (April 24-26), and Sacramento State (May 14-16) in WAC games on the road.

"It is nice that our opponents in the WAC respect what we are trying to do here," Stankiewicz explained. "Our conference is a fight, and it will always be that way. It is great to be chosen second within the WAC, but we still have to play, and we are excited about getting started."

Additional midweek matchups for the Lopes include UNLV on March 17 on the road, Santa Clara at home on March 24-25, at New Mexico on April 14-15, and at Texas Tech on April 28-29.

The Lopes will welcome back eight of their nine starting position players and all of their starting pitchers from the 2014 team that went 30-23 overall, including 19-8 in WAC play.

Chad De La Guerra, recently named the WAC Preseason Player of the Year, returns for his senior season after winning the conference batting title in 2014. Around the horn, the Lopes return second baseman De La Guerra, shortstop Paul Panaccione, third baseman Ben Mauseth, outfielders Kai Kealoha, David Walker, and Brandon Smith, and catchers Humberto Aranda and Josh Meyer.

On the mound, starters Andrew Naderer, Coley Bruns, Ethan Evanko, and Jorge Perez are all back in action, while relievers Zebastian Valenzuela and Jaren Drummond also returned this season.

De La Guerra, Walker, and Naderer each earned First Team All-WAC accolades last season, while Bruns was a Second Team selection. Walker and Naderer also joined De La Guerra on the 2015 Preseason All-WAC team.

"If you try to expect more from an individual standpoint, the guys might lose focus, so we try to steer away from that," said Stankiewicz. "I do expect that the maturity and experience that the returners bring will come through in our play. I try to be careful about putting too much pressure on the returners; they need to play hard and stay focused and the rest will take care of itself."

The Lopes welcomed a bevy of newcomers to this year's team, including nine freshmen and seven transfers, many of which are expected to see the field often this season.

"There are a couple of new guys that will have plenty of playing time," added Stankiewicz. "Cameron Brendel had a nice fall and is looking good this spring, so we fully expect him to get a lot of innings on the mound. We need him to pitch well. Jayden Eggimann can swing the bat, so it is a matter of finding a position for him and the other incoming freshman. Rouric Bridgewater a big left-handed hitter, is kind of an X-factor for us. He can be a threat in the middle of the lineup and will help us be more offensive."

Click here for the complete 2015 schedule
Click here for the 2015 baseball roster