Lopes briefly return to GCU Ballpark

Phoenix, Ariz. • Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark
	vs.
UC Riverside Highlanders (14-16, 4-5 Big West) GAME NOTES		Grand Canyon Lopes (19-16, 10-2 WAC) GAME NOTES

GAME 1 • Wednesday, April 18 • 2 p.m. MST
GCU.tv • Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
LHP [JR] Hazahel Quijada (2-4, 4.09) vs. RHP [FR] Drew Zmuda (1-1, 4.00)

Grand Canyon is amid a span of six away games in a 10-day span. Their one hint of relief from the road is Wednesday's mid-week matineé with UC Riverside. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. MST.

The Lopes and Highlanders are wrapping up a two-game home-and-home series that began in Riverside, Calif. on March 14. It proved to be the longest game of the season to date, with UC Riverside edging out the Lopes in 14 innings.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

FRIENDLY CONFINES: GCU has won 12 of its last 14 home games to improve to 14-8 in the inaugural season of GCU Ballpark. The Lopes were helped by five wins in a six-day span to open the month of April.
FLIRTING WITH THE NO-NO: Behind the arms of four pitchers on April 15 at UTRGV, the Lopes came extremely close to posting the program's first no-hitter since 1982. Ethan Evanko set the tone with six no-hit innings, striking out 10 batters in the process. Nick Ohanian and Josh Andrews each tossed a scoreless frame until UTRGV broke up the combined no-hit bid with a leadoff bloop single to lead off the ninth inning. In the end, the 5-0 win goes down as a combined one-hitter. It's the fewest hits for a GCU opponent in a nine-inning game since the Lopes limited Westmont to one hit on Jan. 31, 2004.
THEN THERE'S THE 'PEN: GCU relief pitching has combined to throw the last 12.1 innings during conference play without allowing an earned run to score.

SCOUTING

A pair of former Big Leaguers lead their respective squads into a mid-week matchup between Troy Percival and Andy Stankiewicz. UC Riverside is chasing its first winning season in Big West Conference play since 2010. The Highlanders finished tied for last in the ever-challenging Big West Conference last season. The Highlanders most recent trip to the postseason came in 2007.

UC Riverside is three series in to Big West Conference play, beginning with a home series win over UC Davis before falling to CSUN at home and Hawaii on the road. UC Riverside's 15 stolen bases ranks as one of the 30 fewest marks in Division I.

Last weekend, UC Riverside dropped Games 1 and 3 of a series loss at Hawaii. In the opener, Dean Miller hit a three-RBI double in the top of the sixth to tie the score at 4-4, but the Rainbow Warriors plated the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth to win. The Highlanders pounded out 18 hits and cruised to a 9-2 win to even the series. UC Riverside scored seven times in the first four innings. Hawaii scored four times in the first inning and won a 5-0 rubber match.

The Lopes and Highlanders met in a mid-week matchup at UC Riverside on March 14. UC Riverside won 9-8 in 14 innings. The Lopes out-hit UC Riverside 20-19. GCU fell behind early, 5-0, with the Highlanders scoring five times in the first. GCU climbed back, scoring two runs in the third, fifth, and eighth innings. Each team scored a run in the 12th before UC Riverside walked off in the 14th.

All 35 players on the UC Riverside roster are natives of California.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU and UTRGV split the first two games of a three-game weekend series, setting up the Lopes' first rubber match game of 2018. The Lopes passed the test, holding UTRGV to one hit in a 5-0 victory.

WHAT'S NEXT

With an odd number of teams in the conference for baseball, one team per week has the weekend off from WAC play. It's Grand Canyon's week, and the Lopes picked up a non-conference series at Illinois beginning on Friday.

For more GCU baseball news, notes and numbers, click here to view the series notes and click here to view the media guide.

Phoenix, Ariz. • Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark

vs.

GAME NOTES

GAME NOTES

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Andrews

Ethan Evanko

Nick Ohanian

Drew Zmuda

Grand Canyon University Athletics