GCU visits Utah Valley

Friday, March 29 - Sunday, March 31 \| UCCU Ballpark \| Orem, Utah

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (12-12, 1-2 WAC)	at	UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES (5-19, 2-1 WAC)

PITCHING PROBABLES

GAME 1 • Friday, March 29 • 5 p.m. MST
Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
RHP [JR] Kade Mechals (5-1, 1.49) vs. RHP [SR] Jake Carr (0-6, 10.29)

GAME 2 • Saturday, March 30 • 1 p.m. MST
Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
RHP [FR] Pierson Ohl (2-3, 4.99) vs. RHP [JR] Paxton Schultz (1-2, 3.51)

GAME 3 • Sunday, March 31 • 11 a.m. MST
Live Stats • WAC Digital Network
LHP [R-SO] Jack Schneider (0-1, 1.69) vs. RHP [SR] Walker Ramsey (0-4, 10.87)

Conference play rolls on as Grand Canyon plays its first WAC road series at Utah Valley beginning on Friday night.

Though GCU and Utah Valley represented the first- and last-place teams, respectively, one year ago, it's the Wolverines that enter the series with the slight edge just one weekend into WAC play. Utah Valley took two of three from Seattle U last week to end the first weekend in a tie for first place with half of the conference.

Last time the Lopes visited Orem, they were crowned 2017 WAC Regular Season Champions after taking two of three from the host Wolverines.

All three games will stream on the WAC Digital Network.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

FRIDAY ACE: Junior Kade Mechals continues to post incredible numbers as GCU's Friday night ace. The right-hander is one of only three pitchers nationally to have at least five wins, at least 40 strikeouts and less than 20 hits allowed. Mechals is 5-1 and has not allowed a run in four of his six outings.
STAFF SUCCESS: Mechals set the tone in last weekend's conference-opening series, and the rest of the Lopes' starting pitchers followed. Despite a series loss, Mechals combined with freshman Pierson Ohl and sophomore Jack Schneider to go 16 1/3 innings and surrender just two runs (1.10 ERA).
AT HOME ON THE ROAD: The Lopes have a winning road record this season, and GCU has won eight of its last 11 road games dating back to last year.

SCOUTING

Like the Lopes, Utah Valley has opened the year with a difficult schedule. The Wolverines' schedule to date ranks as the 45th-toughest nationally. Utah Valley's pitching staff has struggled in 2019, leading to the Wolverines featuring the 13th-worst ERA in the country at 8.28. The Wolverines' five wins have come against Fresno State, UC Davis, Niagara and Seattle U (two). UVU has featured losing streaks as long as seven games this season. Utah Valley is looking to rebound from a 2018 season where it finished in last place in the WAC after a 6-18 conference mark.

Most recently, Utah Valley put the tying run on base in the ninth, but fell to Pac-12 visitor Oregon 12-9 on Wednesday evening at UCCU Ballpark. The Wolverines opened conference play by taking two of three games from Seattle U on the road. The Redhawks claimed the opener 8-5 before the Wolverines responded with back-to-back victories to claim the three-game series.

Last year, GCU swept the series in Phoenix. Jake Wong went a career-long eight innings and GCU struck for four runs in the fifth to claim the series opener 5-2. Jake Repavich posted his best outing of the season, allowing just three hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts as GCU piled on late for an 11-2 win. GCU got a quality start from Ethan Evanko and capped off an error-free weekend with a 5-2 win and sweep of UVU.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU returns for a midweek game against UNLV on Tuesday afternoon.
The Lopes head back out onto the road for a WAC series at New Mexico State beginning on Friday.

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

Friday, March 29 - Sunday, March 31 | UCCU Ballpark | Orem, Utah

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PITCHING PROBABLES

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ethan Evanko

Kade Mechals

Pierson Ohl

Jake Repavich

Jack Schneider

Jake Wong

Grand Canyon University Athletics