5 Things You Need to Know: March 1-7

Each week, schedules overlap between meets, games and matches that dot the calender for the 22 Lopes Division I athletic squads, often leaving a college sports fan missing out on plenty of highlights. With that in mind, GCULopes.com will give you the best fast reads each Tuesday, quick hits of what's coming up soon and the top nuggets you may have recently missed.

	Big-Time Excitement Facing Big-Time Names Huge showdowns await the Lopes in several sports as they take on some nationally prominent opponents this week. The spotlight gets shined on Grand Canyon early as one of the top late-season mid-major clashes happens Tuesday in California as the Lopes men's basketball team faces Saint Mary's, the winner of West Coast Conference regular-season title for the third time in six years and a favorite for an NCAA tournament berth. The Gaels are also ranked No. 24 this week in the coaches poll. They won't be the only Lopes battling top teams as the softball squad takes on Texas A&M and Pittsburgh as part of its six games this weekend in San Diego. Both the Aggies and Panthers are receiving votes in the weekly NFCA poll, sitting at Nos. 26 and 31, respectively. On the sand, the GCU beach volleyball team opens play at home and has No. 5 Florida State coming to town. The Lopes feature a returning All-American duo in Mackenzie Phelps and Shannon Dugan in their effort to knock off the Seminoles (not to mention California and South Carolina, which also have squads heading to Phoenix this weekend). Keep your eyes peeled for some GCU-sized upsets all week.
	Bringing Home the Hardware It's awesome to see great plans come together. Even though Grand Canyon is still transitioning to Division I and can't compete in most Western Athletic Conference team tournaments, the sports that have individual competitions are exempted. And coach Tom Flood's track and field squads are taking full advantage. The men's indoor track and field squad earned the school's first men's outright conference title at the Division I level when it outdistanced the field last weekend in Idaho. GCU cruised to a 49-point win over runner-up Utah Valley by a 232-183 score. Not to be outdone, the women's squad also took home the title. That's an impressive haul when you consider no other team has won the title since the GCU women entered the conference picture. Grand Canyon's title this year came easily as the Lopes outclassed the field, finishing with 253 points. Utah Valley had less than half as many points, with 119 to finish a distance second.
	Facing the Heat Every Day Softball pitcher Taylor Nowlin is inching closer to the school's career strikeout record. She has 211 entering the week, placing her third all-time. She needs just nine more to break the mark set from 2013 to 2014 by Stephanie Pesqueira. Oh, and Nowlin's just a junior. That one should be outta the park when she's done with it. Much of her success has come because of her preparation as each day she has had to practice against a hugely productive offense. This year that includes an incredible freshman class of power hitters who are helping Nowlin refine her art. "We have such a great hitting team," Nowlin said. "I hate pitching to our team. Every practice I dread it but I know if we pitch to our girls, who are really good hitters, it helps us as pitchers. I trust what the coaches are calling and just have to keep pitching my pitches. And I trust my defense behind me. I know my defense is going to back me up." It's worked so far as she has a 4-2 record with a 1.79 ERA in 47.0 innings and 41 strikeouts on the season.
	Heading Down the Stretch The winter sports season is drawing to a rapid close as we head into March. Sure, there's hopefully a few more weeks of men's basketball playing in the postseason, but the rest are at the end. Women's basketball has one home game remaning this Saturday and has a chance for its second winning season and winning WAC season in three years versus a Division I schedule, and the men's and women's swimming and diving teams, which each finished third at the WAC Championships last week, have just the CSCAA National Invitational remaining. This weekend, the wrestling squad ends its current campaign when it heads to Cleveland, Ohio, for the National Collegiate Open. The indoor track and field teams have already wrapped up with WAC titles, and now look forward to setting their sights on the outdoor season.
	Making the Plays It may be a team sport, but if you're going to win baseball games, you need key guys who can step at critical times and push, pull or even drag the team to success. Two guys who have done plenty of that early in the season for the Lopes: Jake Repavich and Austin Bull. There's no other way to say it than Repavich has been dominant on the mound. In 14.0 innings over two starts, he has not allowed a run and has only given up five hits total. While three of those were doubles, he's gotten out of jams effectively and used his defense to his benefit. In fact, he has allowed opponents just a .106 batting average and if he keeps it up, could be on his way to a really special season. In the batter's box, Bull has similarly had a knack of coming up with big-time performances. He's only started three games and played in six, but he's hitting .500 (7 for 14) with a pair of doubles. His first double was memorable. It should have been a single, but his "moxie" as coach Andy Stankiewicz put it, helped him hustle it to two bags. That fired up the Lopes and they drove him around for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a 3-1 win against Central Michigan. Critical time, big push. That's the way key guys get it done. Add in six, seven, eight more of those performances, and it's how the Lopes were able to get votes in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association poll.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Austin Bull

Shannon Dugan

Taylor Nowlin

Mackenzie Phelps

Jake Repavich

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