Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, March 29
Tucson, Ariz.
6:00 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
Arizona
Photo by: Kelsey Grant
Grand Canyon set to play first of two with No. 13 Arizona
3/28/2017 1:18:00 PM | Baseball
| WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29 | ||||
| GRAND CANYON LOPES 9-13 (3-0 WAC) Notes SERIES RELEASE |
 |
vs. |
 |
#13 ARIZONA WILDCATS 16-7 (2-4 PAC-12) Notes SERIES RELEASE |
| Â Â Â | Â Â | |||
| GAME ONE |
| Wednesday, 6:00 p.m. MST |
| TBA vs. |
| LHP Tyler Hansen (0-0, 3.37) |
| Stats Stats | Video Pac-12 Live Stream, Twitter |
Hot off a three-game sweep in the conference's opening weekend, the Grand Canyon baseball team travels to Tucson for a mid-week date with No. 13 Arizona on Wednesday night. The two schools rekindle a matchup that dates back to 1967 and has been contested 81 times. First pitch from Hi-Corbett Field is set for 6 p.m. MST. It's the first of a two-game season series, with the Wildcats set to make a return trip to Phoenix on Tuesday, April 11.
Grand Canyon and Arizona are set to meet for the first time since 2014. In fact, it will be the first time the Lopes meet up with any Pac-12 opponent since 2014 when GCU played at Washington, at Arizona and at USC in the first year of transition to Division I. With a two-run ninth inning, the Lopes topped Arizona on the road on March 18, 2014 by a score of 3-1. While the Lopes have won the last two meetings, Arizona holds the all-time advantage 59-22.
The Lopes opened WAC play with a three-game sweep over CSU Bakersfield in Phoenix. The Roadrunners entered the weekend with the conference's best record. In the opener, Tom Lerouge drove in all three of the Lopes' runs including a game-tying two-run homer in GCU's 3-2 win. Saturday and Sunday's victories were a little more comfortable, with Austin Bull and Tyler Wyatt providing the offensive highlights. GCU clinched the series with a 7-4 win on Saturday and capped off the sweep with an 8-3 win.
Bull went 8-for-15 on the week and drew seven walks. With an on-base percentage of .682 for the week, Bull won his first career WAC Hitter of the Week award. The switch-hitting sophomore leads GCU with a .388 batting average.
Arizona was on the wrong end of a conference sweep, though the Wildcats hung tough with the hottest team in the country. In a visit to this week's national consensus No. 1, Oregon State, the Wildcats lost Games 1 and 2 of a three-game Pac-12 series in one-run, walk-off fashion. The Beavers completed the sweep on Sunday to improve to 20-1 on the year.
Despite a tough offensive series against the nation's top pitching staff, Arizona is still batting .334 on the year, a mark that ranks third in the nation. The Wildcats have five qualifying batters hitting over .350 in 2017, led by Alfonso Rivas who boasts a .403 average. The Wildcats are receiving top-20 recognition in all major polls, ranking as high as No. 11.
The Wildcats are coming off of a 2016 season which saw them reach the College World Series for the 17th time in program history. Arizona fell one win shy of winning their fifth national title. In Omaha, the Wildcats defeated Miami once and Oklahoma State twice to reach the CWS Final. After taking the first game of the series, cinderella story Coastal Carolina won Games 2 and 3 to claim the national title.
GCU's matchup with No. 13 Arizona continues a difficult non-conference schedule for the Lopes. As a whole, Grand Canyon's strength of schedule ranks 20th in the nation with top-50 RPI opponents such as Oklahoma State, Long Beach State, New Mexico, Arizona and Arkansas littering the schedule. The nearest WAC school (CSU Bakersfield) has a strength of schedule of 111th.
Freshman Tyler Hansen (0-0, 3.37) will get his first official start on the mound after previously starting only an exhibition game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields on Feb. 22. Hansen has made two relief appearances on the season for the Lopes, allowing one run in 1.1 innings to UNLV and tossing a scoreless 1.1 innings at New Mexico. On the opposing mound, Arizona has yet to name a starter.
The in-state matchup pairs a number of former high school teammates up against one another. Both teams feature players from Desert Vista, Mountain Ridge, Queen Creek and Sandra Day O'Connor.
Following the matchup in Tucson, Grand Canyon will return home to Brazell Stadium to continue WAC play. The Lopes will host Northern Colorado, one of the two other WAC teams with a perfect 3-0 conference mark. The series is set to begin on Friday night at 7 p.m. MST on the WAC Digital Network.
For more news and notes, click here for the 2017 GCU Baseball Media Guide and click here for the series release.
Â
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballGCU Baseball - WAC Tournament vs. Utah Tech - Highlights
Thursday, May 22
Baseball at Stanford - Barreras' game-winning double
Saturday, May 10
Baseball vs. Arizona (5/6/25) - Yorke homers twice to break record
Wednesday, May 07
GCU Baseball - Eli Paton walk-off single vs. UTA
Saturday, April 26