Upcoming Event: Baseball at Hawai'i on March 25, 2027
Baseball
at Hawai'i
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, April 26
Chicago, Ill. / Cougar Stadium
1 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
Chicago State
GCU bound for Chicago
4/25/2019 8:00:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes take 4-game win streak into WAC series with Chicago State
Friday, April 26 - Sunday, April 28 | Cougar Stadium | Chicago, Ill. |
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GRAND CANYON
LOPES (21-18, 8-7 WAC)
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at |
CHICAGO STATE COUGARS (10-27, 5-10 WAC) |
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PITCHING PROBABLES |
| GAME 1 • Friday, April 26 • 1 p.m. MST Live Stats RHP [FR] Pierson Ohl (4-4, 4.42) vs. RHP [SO] Dylan Cumming (2-2, 4.93) |
| GAME 2 • Saturday, April 27 • 12 p.m. MST Live Stats TBA vs. RHP [R-SO] Brett Gregory (2-5, 6.42) |
| GAME 3 • Sunday, April 28 • 10 a.m. MST Live Stats TBA vs. LHP [JR] Rodny Valdes (1-1, 3.42) |
With a four-game win streak in hand, Grand Canyon heads east for a three-game WAC series at Chicago State beginning on Friday afternoon.
Having dropped five in a row, the Cougars share seventh place with CSU Bakersfield in the conference standings.
All three games will have no live video, but live stats will be available.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- DOUBLE DOWN: GCU has collected three or more doubles in each of its last five games. With 92 doubles in 39 games, the Lopes rank No. 5 nationally with a mark 2.36 doubles per game. Junior left fielder Kona Quiggle leads the charge with 18 doubles on the season, ranking No. 6 in the country. His next double will match Quin Cotton's team-high mark from a year ago.
- PITCHING AND POWER: During conference play, GCU is the only team to feature top-three marks in both slugging percentage and ERA. The Lopes have a .432 slugging percentage that ranks second in the WAC and a 4.17 ERA that ranks third. The Lopes share the slugging percentage leaderboard with New Mexico State and Northern Colorado while UT Rio Grande Valley and Sacramento State join the Lopes in the top three for ERA.
- MULLING MECHALS: GCU Friday night starter Kade Mechals is the nation's co-leader with eight victories on the season. The junior is 8-1 with a 2.47 ERA that ranks third in the conference. He is tied for fourth in the WAC with 62 strikeouts and is second in the WAC with a .194 opponent batting average. Mechals is looking to become the first Lopes pitcher to win 10 games since 2002.
SCOUTING
As it currently stands, Chicago State is battling it out for the final seed in the WAC Tournament. The Cougars are 5-10 in conference action and are tied for seventh. Chicago State has never qualified for the six-team conference tournament. The Cougars are last in the WAC with their .238 batting average and eighth with a 7.11 staff ERA.
Last weekend, the Cougars met up with league-leading Sacramento State in Chicago. The Hornets came away with a three-game sweep, defeating the Cougars by scores of 13-3, 7-5 and 10-1. The series with GCU continues a stretch of eight home games in a nine-game span for Chicago State.
GCU swept the series with Chicago State a year ago at GCU Ballpark. The Lopes snuck away with a 3-2 win in the opener before winning more comfortably in the final two games by scores of 13-5 and 11-2.
WHAT'S NEXT
- GCU's road trip continues to Albuquerque, N.M. for the lone two-game midweek series of the season. The Lopes and Lobos play Tuesday and Wednesday.
- The Lopes return to GCU Ballpark for the season's final six home games. GCU hosts back-to-back WAC series against CSU Bakersfield and Northern Colorado.
For more GCU baseball news, notes and numbers, click here to view the media guide.
Players Mentioned
Thursday, June 11
Friday, June 05
Monday, June 01
Saturday, May 16