Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, April 28
Las Cruces, N.M.
5:00 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
New Mexico State
GCU travels to New Mexico State for clash of WAC leaders
4/27/2017 3:42:00 PM | Baseball
| FRIDAY, APRILÂ 28 - SUNDAY, APRIL 30 | ||||
| GRAND CANYON LOPES 19-21 (13-2 WAC) Notes SERIES RELEASE |
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vs. |
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NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES 26-16 (11-1 WAC) Notes SERIES RELEASE |
| Â Â Â | Â Â | |||
| GAME ONE | GAME TWO | GAME THREE |
| Friday, 5 p.m. MST | Saturday, 1 p.m. MST | Sunday, 11 a.m. MST |
| RHP Marcel Renteria (6-2, 3.05) vs. |
RHP Kyle Bradish (6-0, 2.18) vs. |
LHP Jonathan Groff (6-4, 3.06) vs. |
| RHP Jake Wong (5-2, 2.51) | LHP Jake Repavich (4-3, 3.90) | LHP Jack Schneider (3-0, 5.40) |
| Stats Stats | Video FOX Sports Arizona Plus, ESPN3 | Stats Stats | Video None | Stats Stats | Video WAC Digital Network |
With a five-game conference winning streak in hand, the Lopes are set to face their toughest test yet in WAC play when they travel to Las Cruces, N.M. for a three-game series with New Mexico State. Grand Canyon (13-2) and New Mexico State (11-1) sit atop the conference standings with the Lopes holding a 0.5-game edge on the Aggies entering the series. The series is set to begin at 5 p.m. MST on Friday night from Presley Askew Field.
Both the Lopes and Aggies have been dominant in conference play thus far. The two clubs are the only teams in the conference to feature above-.500 WAC records. The Lopes and Aggies have a combined conference record of 24-3 (.889) while the rest of the conference is just 36-57 (.387).
Grand Canyon is coming off of a series sweep of UT Rio Grande Valley to run its conference record to 13-2, the best start to a conference schedule in the program's 12-year Division I history. The Lopes went 21-2 to begin PacWest play in their final season at the Division II level in 2013. GCU has won its first five conference series.
To remain a perfect 9-0 in home conference action, it took a little bit of magic. After taking Games 1 and 2, the Lopes had to overcome an 8-0 deficit in the series finale in the sixth inning no less. The visiting Vaqueros posted a seven-run second inning, which GCU later countered with a six-run sixth inning. The Lopes tied the score with a two-run eighth, and walked off with a win for the second straight day in the 10th. It was the biggest come-from-behind win for GCU since also overcoming an 8-0 score to defeat Utah on April 25, 1998.
Garrison Schwartz, Sunday's walk-off hero, was named WAC Hitter of the Week for the first time in his career. The junior outfielder hit .615 and ended the series with a double, double and walk-off single in his last three at bats of the weekend.
New Mexico State also swept a home series, defeating Northern Colorado in three games in Las Cruces. In the opener, the Aggies pounded out 10 runs on 15 hits en route to a 10-3 victory. It took a late comeback and some solid relief pitching to claim Saturday's Game 2, with the Bears leading as late as the sixth inning. The Aggies put Sunday's finale seemingly out of reach early on, plating five in the first inning.
The weekend sweeps did not translate into mid-week success for either squad. The Lopes dropped a pair to Kansas at Brazell Stadium, struggling with too many free passes. New Mexico State's defense had a disasterous day, committing six errors in a loss to Arizona in Tucson, as many errors as the Lopes have committed in their last 12 games combined.
The Aggies represent the highest power-hitting team in the conference, slugging .480 while hitting 39 home runs and 85 doubles. New Mexico State is coming off of a 2016 season which saw them have the top win-improvement mark in the country, finishing 34-23 and second in the WAC.
When the two teams met in Phoenix last year, it was a series sweep for New Mexico State, but it came by the narrowest of margins. The Aggies claimed all three games by one run with Grand Canyon stranding the tying run in scoring position in the home-half of the ninth in all three instances. Despite New Mexico State's success a year ago against GCU, the Lopes have a 47-22 advantage in previous meetings against the Aggies, dating all the way back to 1964. The Lopes are 19-9 in Las Cruces.
Grand Canyon ranks second in the WAC in both batting average (.318) and earned run average (3.30) while leading the conference in fielding percentage (.986) for WAC games. The Lopes are the only team to rank in the top three in all three categories.
The series will feature its fair share of marquee pitching matchups with GCU's Jake Wong (5-2, 2.51) set to face Marcel Renteria (6-2, 3.05) in the opener followed by Jake Repavich (4-3, 3.90) opposite Kyle Bradish (6-0, 2.18).
For more news and notes, click here for the 2017 GCU Baseball Media Guide and click here for the series release.
Players Mentioned
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