Completed Event: Baseball at Arizona on March 24, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 5
Baseball
at Arizona
L 4-5
Grand Canyon University Athletics
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Reworked schedule still packs its punch
1/22/2021 10:30:00 AM | Baseball
Stankiewicz lines up traditional nonconference gauntlet; WAC play adjusted
A 345-day offseason is down to its final month as Grand Canyon released its retooled 2021 baseball schedule on Friday. The 56-game schedule features 31 home games.
True to tradition, Lopes 10th-year head coach Andy Stankiewicz lined up a challenging nonconference slate featuring four teams that qualified for the 2019 NCAA tournament.
"We are excited to announce our 2021 schedule," Stankiewicz said. "We are also grateful to our administration for helping us navigate through these tough times. Every year we look to challenge our staff, players and program and this schedule most certainly does that."
Headlining the 2021 slate are GCU Ballpark visits from Missouri, Oregon State and Pepperdine, trips to Oklahoma State and Tulsa, and home-and-home series with in-state programs Arizona and Arizona State. Four of GCU's nonconference opponents are preseason top-25 picks.
The WAC will utilize a new scheduling format this year to maximize games played on conference weekends in the COVID-19 environment. All series will feature a Saturday doubleheader as part of a four-game weekend series. The first game of the doubleheader will be seven innings and followed by a nine-inning nightcap. This brings the Lopes' conference game total to 36.
Three home games are set to be televised on FOX 10 Xtra (Ch. 45/Cable 9) and ESPN3: Feb. 26 vs. Oregon State, April 13 vs. Arizona and April 21 vs. Arizona State. The remaining home games on the schedule will be streamed on GCUTV.
The season opens on Friday, Feb. 19, with seven straight home games that feature weekend visits from Power Five programs Missouri and Oregon State. The Tigers were off to an 11-5 start last season and play in the nation's premier baseball conference, the SEC. Former Lopes pitching coach Rich Dorman brings his Beavers team, which won the 2018 national championship for its third in the past 15 years — to GCU Ballpark for a four-game series.
GCU's first road trip is to Stillwater, Oklahoma, as the Lopes will be one of the first opponents to visit the Cowboys' new O'Brate Stadium, which was set to debut in late March before the season was canceled. GCU hosted the Cowboys to begin last season and claimed two of three games from the 22nd-ranked team.
Conference play begins March 12 with back-to-back home series against UT Rio Grande Valley and Seattle U.
Stankiewicz's alma mater, Pepperdine, comes to Phoenix for a pair of mid-week games on March 23-24.
With Chicago State no longer sponsoring baseball as of this season, the Lopes filled their conference "bye week" with a trip to New Orleans to play at Tulane. The Green Wave were off to a 15-2 start last season and a top-25 ranking in the D1Baseball.com poll. Tulane has participated in 10 NCAA tournaments since the turn of the century, including a pair of trips to the College World Series.
In continued conference play, GCU hosts Northern Colorado, California Baptist and Division I newcomer Dixie State while paying visits to Utah Valley, New Mexico State, Sacramento State and D-I newcomer Tarleton.
The Lopes host Arizona on April 13 before traveling to Tucson on May 4. GCU and Arizona State are set to meet for the first time since 2010 after last year's cancellations. The Lopes and Sun Devils face off on back-to-back nights — April 20 in Tempe and April 21 at GCU Ballpark.
"We always look forward to playing our in-state competition," Stankiewicz said. "We know what types of challenges that will present."
While this year's conference landscape got a shake-up with the departure of Chicago State and additions of Dixie State and Tarleton, next year will bring even greater change. The conference announced a five-school expansion, including four institutions with baseball programs: Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin. Those programs will join the conference next season as WAC affiliate member Northern Colorado departs.
"The WAC continues to grow with the addition of Dixie State and Tarleton," Stankiewicz said. "They are both very strong baseball programs moving up to D-I classification. With the announcing of college baseball schedules across the country, it brings hope and excitement not only to our program, but to all baseball fans."
To view the entire 2021 schedule, click here.
GCU's announcement on attendance policies for its spring sports is forthcoming.
True to tradition, Lopes 10th-year head coach Andy Stankiewicz lined up a challenging nonconference slate featuring four teams that qualified for the 2019 NCAA tournament.
"We are excited to announce our 2021 schedule," Stankiewicz said. "We are also grateful to our administration for helping us navigate through these tough times. Every year we look to challenge our staff, players and program and this schedule most certainly does that."
Headlining the 2021 slate are GCU Ballpark visits from Missouri, Oregon State and Pepperdine, trips to Oklahoma State and Tulsa, and home-and-home series with in-state programs Arizona and Arizona State. Four of GCU's nonconference opponents are preseason top-25 picks.
The WAC will utilize a new scheduling format this year to maximize games played on conference weekends in the COVID-19 environment. All series will feature a Saturday doubleheader as part of a four-game weekend series. The first game of the doubleheader will be seven innings and followed by a nine-inning nightcap. This brings the Lopes' conference game total to 36.
Three home games are set to be televised on FOX 10 Xtra (Ch. 45/Cable 9) and ESPN3: Feb. 26 vs. Oregon State, April 13 vs. Arizona and April 21 vs. Arizona State. The remaining home games on the schedule will be streamed on GCUTV.
The season opens on Friday, Feb. 19, with seven straight home games that feature weekend visits from Power Five programs Missouri and Oregon State. The Tigers were off to an 11-5 start last season and play in the nation's premier baseball conference, the SEC. Former Lopes pitching coach Rich Dorman brings his Beavers team, which won the 2018 national championship for its third in the past 15 years — to GCU Ballpark for a four-game series.
GCU's first road trip is to Stillwater, Oklahoma, as the Lopes will be one of the first opponents to visit the Cowboys' new O'Brate Stadium, which was set to debut in late March before the season was canceled. GCU hosted the Cowboys to begin last season and claimed two of three games from the 22nd-ranked team.
Conference play begins March 12 with back-to-back home series against UT Rio Grande Valley and Seattle U.
Stankiewicz's alma mater, Pepperdine, comes to Phoenix for a pair of mid-week games on March 23-24.
With Chicago State no longer sponsoring baseball as of this season, the Lopes filled their conference "bye week" with a trip to New Orleans to play at Tulane. The Green Wave were off to a 15-2 start last season and a top-25 ranking in the D1Baseball.com poll. Tulane has participated in 10 NCAA tournaments since the turn of the century, including a pair of trips to the College World Series.
In continued conference play, GCU hosts Northern Colorado, California Baptist and Division I newcomer Dixie State while paying visits to Utah Valley, New Mexico State, Sacramento State and D-I newcomer Tarleton.
The Lopes host Arizona on April 13 before traveling to Tucson on May 4. GCU and Arizona State are set to meet for the first time since 2010 after last year's cancellations. The Lopes and Sun Devils face off on back-to-back nights — April 20 in Tempe and April 21 at GCU Ballpark.
"We always look forward to playing our in-state competition," Stankiewicz said. "We know what types of challenges that will present."
While this year's conference landscape got a shake-up with the departure of Chicago State and additions of Dixie State and Tarleton, next year will bring even greater change. The conference announced a five-school expansion, including four institutions with baseball programs: Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin. Those programs will join the conference next season as WAC affiliate member Northern Colorado departs.
"The WAC continues to grow with the addition of Dixie State and Tarleton," Stankiewicz said. "They are both very strong baseball programs moving up to D-I classification. With the announcing of college baseball schedules across the country, it brings hope and excitement not only to our program, but to all baseball fans."
To view the entire 2021 schedule, click here.
GCU's announcement on attendance policies for its spring sports is forthcoming.
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