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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Duo makes preseason All-America
12/17/2019 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
Mechals, Bess earn Collegiate Baseball 3rd-team honors
Grand Canyon senior pitcher Kade Mechals and junior first baseman Cuba Bess earned Preseason All-American honors, as announced by Collegiate Baseball on Tuesday.
Mechals and Bess landed on the third team, identifying them as two of the top 81 college baseball players in the nation.
As a Lopes newcomer last year, Mechals wasted no time establishing himself as the ace of the staff. He earned national prominence in a stellar junior season, leading to a draft selection by the Miami Marlins before electing to return to GCU for the 2020 season.
Mechals was named a first-team All-WAC starting pitcher, the first at GCU since 2014. Prior to the start of the NCAA tournament, he was the nation's co-leader with 11 wins, tying GCU's Division I record. It was the most wins in program history since Bart Grubbs won 11 in 1991. Mechals became the first GCU pitcher to hit the 100-strikeout mark since Jeff Swanson in 2004 and posted the best earned run average (2.16) in the program's D-I history.
Bess returned from an injury redshirt season in 2018 to post a second-team All-WAC season at first base. He led GCU in batting average (.341), slugging percentage (.632) and on-base percentage (.476) with all three marks also ranking in the WAC's top 10. His on-base percentage ranked 43rd nationally. Bess had a breakout season offensively, posting the program's top slugging percentage since 2010 and top on-base percentage since 2012. He tied for second on the team with 11 home runs, one off the team-leading pace of Kona Quiggle.
GCU's 2020 season is less than two months away with the Lopes set to open up against Oklahoma State, an expected top-25 team, at GCU Ballpark in a Feb. 14-16 series.
To view a complete list of Collegiate Baseball's Preseason All-American selections, click here.
Mechals and Bess landed on the third team, identifying them as two of the top 81 college baseball players in the nation.
As a Lopes newcomer last year, Mechals wasted no time establishing himself as the ace of the staff. He earned national prominence in a stellar junior season, leading to a draft selection by the Miami Marlins before electing to return to GCU for the 2020 season.
Mechals was named a first-team All-WAC starting pitcher, the first at GCU since 2014. Prior to the start of the NCAA tournament, he was the nation's co-leader with 11 wins, tying GCU's Division I record. It was the most wins in program history since Bart Grubbs won 11 in 1991. Mechals became the first GCU pitcher to hit the 100-strikeout mark since Jeff Swanson in 2004 and posted the best earned run average (2.16) in the program's D-I history.
Bess returned from an injury redshirt season in 2018 to post a second-team All-WAC season at first base. He led GCU in batting average (.341), slugging percentage (.632) and on-base percentage (.476) with all three marks also ranking in the WAC's top 10. His on-base percentage ranked 43rd nationally. Bess had a breakout season offensively, posting the program's top slugging percentage since 2010 and top on-base percentage since 2012. He tied for second on the team with 11 home runs, one off the team-leading pace of Kona Quiggle.
GCU's 2020 season is less than two months away with the Lopes set to open up against Oklahoma State, an expected top-25 team, at GCU Ballpark in a Feb. 14-16 series.
To view a complete list of Collegiate Baseball's Preseason All-American selections, click here.
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