WAC lead at stake with NMSU visit

Friday, April 27

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

4/26/2018 12:15:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

Lopes begin conference 2nd half vs. nation's No. 2 offense

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

Phoenix, Ariz. • Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark
	vs.
New Mexico State Aggies (27-14, 11-4 WAC) GAME NOTES		Grand Canyon Lopes (23-18, 10-2 WAC) GAME NOTES

GAME 1 • Friday, April 27 • 6 p.m. MST
GCU.tv • Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
RHP [JR] Kyle Bradish (5-2, 3.02) vs. RHP [JR] Jake Wong (6-1, 2.16)

GAME 2 • Saturday, April 28 • 2 p.m. MST
GCU.tv • Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
LHP [SR] Jonathan Groff (6-2, 2.83) vs. LHP [SR] Jake Repavich (2-3, 6.70)

GAME 3 • Sunday, April 29 • 12 p.m. MST
GCU.tv • Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
LHP [JR] Alex Pinedo (4-1, 2.32) vs. LHP [R-SR] Ethan Evanko (2-1, 4.00)

There are no diplomas after sophomore years or paychecks at noon on Wednesdays.

Being halfway to a Western Athletic Conference championship with the WAC lead after 12 games is ideal for Grand Canyon, but its final 12 games will dictate whether the Lopes can repeat as regular-season champions.

Four WAC teams are separated by two games entering the weekend series, which features New Mexico State visiting GCU Ballpark on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. NMSU is looking to avenge a GCU sweep in Las Cruces, N.M., last year, when the Lopes edged the Aggies for first place by one game.

NMSU (11-4 in WAC play) trails GCU (10-2) by a half-game before Friday's 6 p.m. game, which pits the Aggies' offense -- second in the nation in batting average and runs scored -- against Lopes junior ace Jake Wong.

GCU has won 16 of its past 21 games and made a statement during last weekend's WAC hiatus by winning a series at No. 25 Illinois.

"We started to play our brand of baseball," said Wong, who is 6-1 with a 2.16 earned run average. "Guys started settling into roles. As a team, we grew together and learned from early season woes. All together, we molded into the team we always thought we should be."

The Lopes' pitching rotation has been at its best recently. Wong has been dominant nearly all season, but senior left-handers Jake Repavich and Ethan Evanko have stepped up. Repavich is coming off his best outing of the season, one run in six innings at Illinois, while Evanko has found his form after going two years between starts. In his past three starts, Evanko has allowed three earned runs in 17 innings with six no-hit innings at UTRGV.

They are backed by a defense that did not commit an error for six consecutive games until Wednesday's loss to New Mexico. GCU ranks 25^th in the nation for fielding percentage at .978.

"It's going to be a good matchup on Friday night," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "I really believe it's going to be a matter of who executes well – who makes a big pitch or gets a big hit to separate us from them. Coach (Brian) Green has done a nice job of establishing a nice team offense over there. It's going to be a dogfight for sure."

NMSU is hitting .327 and averaging 9.2 runs per game on the season, but the Lopes have the top batting average (.324) during conference play.

"Confidence is very high," said GCU junior Tyler Wyatt, who is hitting .413 over the past 14 games. "The mood is that we've got to keep punching back. If we get punched, we punch back. If we're up, we keep pushing and we keep going at them as much as we possibly can. We don't let up. We don't step off the gas."

After this weekend's series, the Lopes will close WAC play with series at Cal State Bakersfield (4-7), home against Sacramento State (9-3) and at Seattle (8-4).

GCU has won 13 consecutive conference series, the longest active streak in the nation.

"We've got four tough weekends out in front of us, with a big one this weekend," Stankiewicz said. "New Mexico State has been playing well, so we're going to have to be on top of our game. We believe we're in a good spot as far as the conference goes. We just have to play good baseball."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

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