GCU set for two-game, mid-week series with New Mexico

Tuesday, March 15 - 7 p.m.
	Tyler Wyatt 0-1, 7.71 ERA	James Harrington 2-1, 3.86 ERA
www.gcustats.com
Wednesday, March 16 - 2 p.m.
	TBA 0-0, 0.00 ERA	TBA 0-0, 0.00 ERA
www.gcustats.com

PHOENIX -- After recovering from a weekend-opening loss to take the series from Cal Poly on Sunday, the Grand Canyon baseball team will play host to New Mexico in the first two-game, mid-week series of the season. Both clubs enter the week with 2-1 series victories in their rearview mirrors, with the Lopes topping the Mustangs and New Mexico defeating Nevada. Tuesday's game is set to be a 7 p.m. affair under the lights at Brazell Stadium, with the finale of the brief series coming at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

LAST TIME OUT
Grand Canyon fell victim to a pitching gem by Cal Poly's Caleb Smith in the series opener. Smith tossed a five-hit, complete game shutout as the Lopes failed to score.

After a quiet offensive night on Friday, GCU rebounded in a big way. The Lopes posted season highs in runs (16) and hits (17) en route to their biggest win of the season. Ethan Evanko struck out a career-high nine batters, while Paul Panaccione posted three hits and a career-high five RBI.

The winner of the series took the full nine innings of Sunday's rubber match to be decided. GCU starter Jake Repavich tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, while Thomas Lerouge had a career day at the plate. The sophomore posted four hits including a two-out, walk-off double off the base of the wall that sent GCU home victorious.

SERIES HISTORY
New Mexico leads the all-time series between the two schools, 18-10. The Lobos claimed the team's two matchups in 2015 by scores of 7-3 and 14-2 in Albuquerque.

PITCHING PREVIEW
Grand Canyon will toss freshman Tyler Wyatt, coming off of a solid 4.0-inning outing at San Francisco last Tuesday. In Wyatt's last two starts, both GCU wins, the right-hander has allowed two runs on five hits in 4.0 innings of work.

James Harrington will start for the Lobos, also making his fourth start of the season. The righty began the season with two winning starts at Hawaii and Wichita State. Most recently, Harrington allowed nine hits and seven runs in a loss to New Mexico State.

Neither team has announced a Wednesday starter, but will most likely feature a host of arms out of the bullpen.

SCOUTING NEW MEXICO
The Lobos use a potent offensive attack to do their damage, ranking ninth in the country in on-base percentage (.421) and 14th in batting average (.323). New Mexico's pitching, however, has been shaky to begin the year, ranking 239th in the nation with a 6.10 ERA. The Lobos have logged three wins over Hawaii, swept Wichita State in a three-game series, and claimed two of three games from Nevada at the start of conference play last weekend. The Lobos were swept by Dallas Baptist and lost a single-game to WAC foe New Mexico State. The Lobos were picked as co-favorites to win the seven-team Mountain West Conference along with San Diego State.

Danny Collier (junior, outfielder), Carl Stajduhar (sophomore, third base), and Jack Zoellner (junior, first base) were all named to the Mountain West Preseason All-Conference team. Chris DeVito, however, has been the most impressive Lobo from the plate with a .453 batting average, 17 RBI and four home runs, all marks which are good for first place in the conference.

ON THE HORIZON
Following the mid-week series at Brazell, the Lopes will travel to Houston for their first extended roadtrip of the season. Grand Canyon will play a three-game weekend series with the Cougars, who have been ranked as high as No. 12 in the national polls this season. Houston has started the year 8-6 including a five-game losing streak which has seen its stock in the national landscape drop. After three games in Houston, the Lopes travel to UNLV for a game on Tuesday, March 22 before heading home to open up WAC play against Utah Valley.

For more news and notes on the Lopes and this week's matchup, view the GCU Game Notes document above.

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Players Mentioned

Ethan Evanko

Tom Lerouge

Paul Panaccione

Jake Repavich

Tyler Wyatt

Grand Canyon University Athletics