Lopes pause conference play for series at Illinois

Champaign, Ill. • Illinois Field
	vs.
Grand Canyon Lopes (20-16, 10-2 WAC) GAME NOTES		Illinois Fighting Illini (23-9, 9-3 Big Ten) GAME NOTES

GAME 1 • Friday, April 20 • 4 p.m. MST
Live Stats • BTN2go ($)
RHP [JR] Jake Wong (5-1, 2.24) vs. LHP [R-JR] Andy Fisher (3-0, 4.15)

GAME 2 • Saturday, April 21 • 1 p.m. MST
Live Stats • BTN2go ($)
LHP [SR] Jake Repavich (2-3, 7.49) vs. RHP [JR] Quinn Snarskis (4-1, 3.67)

GAME 3 • Saturday, April 22 • 9 a.m. MST
Live Stats • BTN2go ($)
LHP [R-SR] Ethan Evanko (2-1, 4.06) vs. RHP [SO] Ty Weber (4-1, 3.00)

Grand Canyon pauses Western Athletic Conference play for a three-game non-conference series on the road at Illinois. The Fighting Illini are the second Big Ten opponent that the Lopes have faced in 2018 after sweeping aside Penn State in early March.

All three games are available on BTN2go, the Big Ten's online-only streaming platform. Fans can watch the games for a subscription fee.

The remainder of the WAC plays conference series due to the odd number of teams in the conference.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

PITCHING PROWESS: In its last two games, GCU pitching has limited its opponents to one run on seven hits with a 0.50 ERA. The recent success has helped the Lopes' ERA dip under 5.00.
BIG TEN BATTLE: While this weekend's three games will mark the first ever meetings between GCU and Illinois, the Lopes have had several matchups against current members of the Big Ten Conference. The Lopes have a 24-15 (.615) all-time record against current members of the conference.
DOUBLING THE DOUBLES: Tyler Wyatt has four two-out RBIs in the last two games, including a key three-run double in Sunday's win at UTRGV. The junior is hitting .448 in the month of April. In consecutive games for the first time this season, GCU has had a player hit multiple doubles. Zach Malis hit two on April 15, and Austin Bull hit two in two ABs on April 18.

SCOUTING

Illinois enters the week ranked No. 25 by Baseball America. The Illini are one of just 28 teams that rank higher than GCU in fielding percentage. Both teams are exceptional on defense with GCU ranking 29th at .977 and Illinois at No.9 at .982. Illinois has slugged 39 homers on the season, tied for the Big Ten lead.

The Illini dropped a mid-week game to Valparaiso on Tuesday, 11-7. The Crusaders also beat GCU at home twice this season. Illinois swept a home Big Ten series against Rutgers over the weekend. Illinois won by scores of 13-12, 2-1, and 10-4.

Bren Spilane ranks among the NCAA leaders in nearly every major category: 1st slugging (1.038), 1st OPS (1.578), t-3rd HRs (14), 2nd batting average (.457), 3rd OBP (.540), t-17th doubles (15), t-22nd RBIs (43)

This is the first meeting between the two schools.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes used seven pitchers to cruise to a 6-1 win over UC Riverside in mid-week action at GCU Ballpark.
Over the weekend, the Lopes won their 13th consecutive conference series by taking Games 1 and 3 on the road at UTRGV. The Lopes took a combined no-hitter into the ninth inning in Sunday's finale and finished with a combined one-hitter in their first shutout win of the season.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes return to GCU Ballpark for a five-game homestand, hosting both New Mexico schools. First up, it's a two-game mid-week series against New Mexico of the Mountain West. Then GCU will welcome in New Mexico State for a critical three-game conference series over the weekend.

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

Champaign, Ill. • Illinois Field

vs.

GAME NOTES

GAME NOTES

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Austin Bull

Ethan Evanko

Zach Malis

Jake Repavich

Jake Wong

Tyler Wyatt

Grand Canyon University Athletics