Lopes set for final home series

Friday, May 11

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Sacramento State

Photo by: Slaven Gujic

5/10/2018 3:10:00 PM | Baseball

First-place GCU and third-place Sacramento State set for critical series

By: Josh Hauser

Phoenix, Ariz. • Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark
	vs.
Sacramento State Hornets (27-20, 13-5 WAC) GAME NOTES		Grand Canyon Lopes (27-21, 14-4 WAC) GAME NOTES

GAME 1 • Friday, April 6 • 6 p.m. MST
GCU.tv • Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
RHP [FR] Scott Randall (5-3, 3.62) vs. RHP [JR] Jake Wong (8-1, 2.55)

GAME 2 • Saturday, April 7 • 6 p.m. MST
GCU.tv • Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
RHP [SR] Austin Root (7-3, 2.82) vs. LHP [SR] Jake Repavich (2-4, 6.87)

GAME 3 • Sunday, April 8 • 12 p.m. MST
GCU.tv • Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
RHP [SO] Parker Brahms (4-3, 2.12) vs. LHP [R-SR] Ethan Evanko (3-1, 3.75)

Grand Canyon will put a wrap on its home schedule with three games against Sacramento State this weekend. Just one game separates the WAC's top three teams including the first-place Lopes (14-4) and the third-place Hornets (13-5).

The Lopes will honor their six seniors in Sunday's home finale. Fifth-year pitcher Ethan Evanko as well as pitchers Mick Vorhof and Jake Repavich have spent their entire collegiate careers in a GCU uniform. Junior college transfers Ian Evans and Jeramy Smith have spent two seasons with the Lopes, while graduate transfer Mike Lundin is playing in his only season at GCU.

All three games will air on GCU.tv and the WAC Digital Network with Michael Potter on the call.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

COTTON'S TEAR: Sophomore outfielder Quin Cotton has gone 18-for-29 (.621) in his last seven games, a streak which has propelled him to the conference lead in batting average (.385) and total hits (79). Cotton had his second 5-for-5 game of the year in the Lopes' win over New Mexico State on April 29.
MALIS' CAREER DAY: Junior infielder Zach Malis had a day to remember during GCU's series-clinching win at CSU Bakersfield on May 6. The third baseman had three home runs, all of the go-ahead variety. The last one -- coming in the top of the 10th inning -- stuck as GCU claimed an 8-5 victory. It was the first three-homer day by a GCU batter since Matt Henne did so against UC San Diego on Feb. 9, 2007. Malis was named WAC Hitter of the Week for the second time in his career.
OFFENSE MEETS PITCHING: The weekend series between the Lopes and Hornets will feature the conference's top offense (GCU, .323) and top pitching staff (Sac State, 2.47) in conference games.

SCOUTING

The Hornets represented the WAC as the automatic bid last season after Sacramento State went a perfect 3-0 in the conference tournament. Sacramento State's staff ERA of 3.66 is a top-50 mark nationally. They also field the ball cleanly, ranking 25th with a .978 mark. The Hornets are the second-most efficient pitching staff in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Sacramento State strikes out 3.57 batters for every walk.

The Lopes and the Hornets are the only two teams to win every conference series thus far. The Hornets have won 2 of 3 from New Mexico State, Seattle, CSU Bakersfield, Northern Colorado and UTRGV while sweeping Chicago State.

Last weekend, the Hornets won two of three from Seattle U at home, taking Games 1 and 3. Solid pitching led Sac State to a 5-1 win in the opener. In Game 2, Seattle held a 3-1 lead but the Hornets tied the game in the seventh. The Redhawks countered with an eighth-inning run to win the game. In the rubber game, Seattle U held a 1-0 lead for much of the contest before Sac State scored 10 runs between the seventh and eighth innings.

A year ago, the Lopes took two of three games from the Hornets in Sacramento in 2017. Jake Wong had the edge in a clash of the WAC's top two pitchers as the Lopes claimed the series opener 2-1. Each team had just six hits. The Hornets got to Jake Repavich for six runs on eight hits as the Lopes lost their first WAC game. GCU scored six times in the fifth inning to cruise to an 8-2 win in the rubber match.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes fell at Arizona in mid-week action.
Last weekend, GCU took two of three games from CSU Bakersfield to remain in first place in the WAC standings.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU will play its final week of the regular season on the road. The Lopes will match up with Loyola Marymount on Tuesday before a three-game conference series at Seattle U beginning on Thursday.

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