Lopes host Seattle U in final home conference series

FRIDAY, MAY 5 - SUNDAY, MAY 7
SEATTLE U REDHAWKS 15-26-1 (5-10 WAC) ~~SERIES RELEASE~~	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES 22-21 (16-2 WAC) SERIES RELEASE

GAME ONE	GAME TWO	GAME THREE
Friday, 7 p.m. MST	Saturday, 7 p.m. MST	Sunday, 12 p.m. MST
LHP Jake Prizina (4-2, 3.98) vs.	RHP Janson Junk (5-5, 5.28) vs.	LHP Connor Moore (2-1, 4.50) vs.
RHP Jake Wong (5-2, 2.42)	LHP Jake Repavich (5-3, 3.58)	LHP Jack Schneider (4-0, 4.28)
Stats \| WAC Digital Network	Stats \| CW6, ESPN3	Stats \| G CU.tv

The Lopes return home for the final five home games of the 2017 schedule, looking to improve on an eight-game winning streak within conference play. This weekend's series features a matchup between the Lopes, the current leader in the WAC, and Seattle U, the team who was picked to win the conference before the season. Friday and Saturday's games will feature 7 p.m. first pitches with a noon finale on Sunday. Saturday's game will be televised on CW6 in the Phoenix market and on ESPN3 with Barry Buetel (play-by-play), Shea Hillenbrand (analysis) and Kate Longworth (reporter).

Grand Canyon is coming into the series with momentum from what head coach Andy Stankiewicz called "as complete of a three games that we've played since I've been at GCU." The Lopes swept a three-game series on the road at New Mexico State in a clash of the conference's top two clubs coming in. GCU hit .331 for the series with four home runs while holding a potent New Mexico State offense to no homers.

The Lopes claimed a back-and-forth series opener with huge swings of momentum. Ian Evans had a four-hit night with two home runs including a game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth inning. Grand Canyon went on to claim the opener in the 10th, 11-9. The final two games of the weekend were much more comfortable victories for the Lopes, coming by scores of 7-2 and 9-0. Starting pitching was the theme of Saturday and Sunday with both Jake Repavich and Jack Schneider posting career-highs in innings pitched, highlighted by a 7.0-inning scoreless outing for Schneider.

Evans provided the gaudy offensive numbers, finishing the weekend 9-for-13 with six RBIs and the aforementioned two-homer game. His .692 batting average earned him his first WAC Hitter of the Week award.

GCU continued an impressive start to conference play, improving to 16-2 and opening up a 3.5-game lead on New Mexico State following the sweep. GCU is off to its second-best conference start in program history (17-1, 2013) and best Division I conference start. With an .889 win percentage in conference play, the Lopes boast the third-best conference record in the nation.

Seattle U was originally picked to win the conference but has been plagued by injuries to its key contributors. Left-handers Tarik Skubal and Nick Meservey -- the WAC's top two 2017 draft prospects according to D1Baseball.com -- have both been sidelined for the season. The Redhawks had a bye week from conference play last weekend, taking two of three games at home in a non-conference matchup with UNLV.

Last year in the Pacific Northwest, GCU lost two of three games to Seattle. In the opener, Grand Canyon pulled within a run late in the ballgame before the WAC-leading Redhawks erupted for six late runs. Seattle claimed Game 2 as well before the Lopes salvaged the series finale with an 8-4 win in extra innings.

GCU is playing at Brazell Stadium for the final five games before the facility undergoes a massive remodel in the offseason. After the three games with Seattle U, the Lopes host a two-game mid-week series against San José State on Tuesday and Wednesday. GCU will honor its lone senior, AJ Franks, in Wednesday's home finale, the final game at Brazell Stadium as it is known today.

For more news and notes, click here for the 2017 GCU Baseball Media Guide and click here for the series release.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ian Evans

AJ Franks

Jake Repavich

Jack Schneider

Jake Wong

Grand Canyon University Athletics