Completed Event: Baseball versus Air Force on April 18, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 5
Baseball
vs Air Force
L 4-5
Grand Canyon University Athletics
WAC opens with newcomer
3/21/2019 5:20:00 PM | Baseball
GCU begins title defense against California Baptist
March 22-24 | Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark | Phoenix, Ariz. |
||||
 |
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
LANCERS (14-7)
|
at |
GRAND CANYON LOPES (10-10) |
 |
PITCHING PROBABLES |
| Friday, March 22 • 6:30 p.m. Live Stats • GCU.tv RHP [SR] Travis Booth (2-1, 1.57) vs. RHP [JR] Kade Mechals (4-1, 1.78) |
| Saturday, March 23 • 6 p.m. Live Stats • GCU.tv RHP [JR] Logan Rinehart (1-0, 4.22) vs. RHP [FR] Pierson Ohl (2-2, 5.84) |
| Sunday, March 24 • 12 p.m. Live Stats • GCU.tv RHP [R-JR] Andrew Bash (2-1, 2.61) vs. LHP [R-SO] Jack Schneider (0-0, 1.42) |
Grand Canyon, winners of 17 straight conference series, opens WAC play on Friday when the Lopes host the conference's newest team, California Baptist.
GCU rides a four-game winning streak into conference play with three wins over Xavier and a win over Utah. The Lopes have hit seven home runs in their last two games.
All three games will stream live on GCU.tv.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- POWER SURGE: The Lopes are hitting home runs at their most rapid pace since the 2001 season with 20 homers in 20 games. GCU has hit seven home runs in its last two games, the most in a two-game span since 2003. Senior Preston Pavlica and junior Kona Quiggle have teamed to post back-to-back games with an individual hitting multiple home runs.
- CONFERENCE SUCCESS: GCU has won 17 consecutive conference series, the nation's leading active streak. In their run to WAC titles in 2017 and 2018, the Lopes won all eight conference series each season. GCU is 39-9 in conference over the last two seasons, the fifth-best win percentage in the country. The Lopes have had the Coach of the Year (Andy Stankiewicz) and the Player of the Year (Garrison Schwartz, Quin Cotton) in back-to-back seasons.
- WITH THE LANCERS: Although the weekend series marks the first time the two programs will compete as Division I schools, the Lopes and Lancers have a lengthy history. In a series dating back as far as 1967, GCU has posted a 65-12-1 mark against California Baptist with wins in the first 32 meetings between the programs. CBU is the source of the fourth-most wins against an opponent in GCU's program history.
SCOUTING
The Lancers are in their first year in the WAC and are in the first year of a four-year transition period from NCAA Division II to Division I. California Baptist got off to a strong start in its inaugural season, going 9-0 with sweeps of Northern Illinois and Ohio. CBU has lost seven of its past 12 against a gradually toughening schedule.
In common opponents, GCU fell to UC Riverside in a midweek game while California Baptist was swept in three games by the Highlanders. The Lancers' team ERA of 3.49 is a top-50 mark nationally.
Most recently, California Baptist became the latest victim in Arizona State's undefeated run to open the season. The Lancers made a late charge at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Wednesday, but fell to the Sun Devils 14-9. CBU dropped two of three games on the road to UC Santa Barbara over the weekend, salvaging the series with a 5-1 win in the finale.
Senior infielder Luke Navigato's .426 batting average ranks 27th nationally, while senior utilityman Ryan Mota ranks ninth in the country with nine home runs.
WHAT'S NEXT
With the lengthiest homestand of the year behind them, the Lopes will head to Nevada for midweek action before conference play takes to the road at Utah Valley next weekend.For more GCU baseball news, notes and numbers, click here to view game notes and click here to view the media guide.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballGriff walks off Arizona #collegebaseball
Wednesday, April 29
GCU Baseball vs. Arizona - Griffin Cameron walk-off
Wednesday, April 29
Singles off BOTH bags. ONE inning. 🤯 #baseball
Sunday, April 12
Schmidt's 3-run blast vs. ASU #collegebaseball
Wednesday, April 08