Nonconference gauntlet continues at Oklahoma State

Friday, March 5

Stillwater, Okla.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Oklahoma State

3/4/2021 1:43:00 PM | Baseball

GCU Game Notes OSU Game Notes GCU Media Guide

GCU looks to repeat recent success against top-25 Cowboys in 1st road trip

By: Jerob Moon

March 5-7 \| O'Brate Stadium \| Stillwater, Okla.

	OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (7-0)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (3-5)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Friday, March 5 • 3 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Live Stats • Watch • Listen

LHP [JR] Parker Scott (2-0, 0.82) vs. RHP [SR] Zach Barnes (1-1, 0.75)

Saturday, March 6 • 3 p.m. (Phoenix time)
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LHP [SO] Justin Wrobleski (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP [JR] Pierson Ohl (1-0, 2.13)

Sunday, March 7 • 11 a.m. (Phoenix time)
Live Stats • Watch • Listen

RHP [FR] Bryce Osmond (1-0, 2.00) vs. LHP [R-SR] Jack Schneider (0-0, 3.24)

Coming off of a series against an opponent that is now ranked in the top 20, the Grand Canyon baseball team will hit the road for the first time this season and take on No. 15 Oklahoma State for a three-game series beginning on Friday.

The Lopes will be one of the first three opponents and first five games played in the Cowboys' new digs, the 3,500-seat O'Brate Stadium which hosted its first game less than 10 days ago. The series will be streamed live on the Oklahoma State website with a radio broadcast available online from 93.7 KSPI FM in Stillwater.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

LOPES AND COWBOYS: The two programs are meeting for the fourth time in the last seven seasons. GCU has claimed two of three games in the last two series between the programs, both taking place in Phoenix. The Lopes opened the 2017 and 2020 seasons by winning series against top-25 Cowboys clubs.
STARTERS GET IT DONE: GCU has had the benefit of impressive starting pitching through the season's first eight games. The rotation of Zach Barnes, Pierson Ohl, Jack Schneider and Carter Young have combined to go 3-1 with a 2.09 ERA, allowing only 34 hits in 43 innings, striking out 43 and walking 14 with a .215 opponent average.
ORTIZ UP TOP: Despite a youth movement on GCU's lineup card that has seen underclassmen record over half of the team's 64 hits to date, it's a senior leading the charge through two weeks. Shortstop Channy Ortiz not only leads the Lopes with his .414 batting average, the Phoenix native leads all WAC hitters with 12 hits on the young season.

SCOUTING

Oklahoma State is off to a spotless 7-0 start to begin the 2021 season. The Cowboys have claimed a pair of victories against Wichita State, a three-game sweep of Illinois State and mid-week victories over Little Rock and Missouri State. Oklahoma State has only surrendered more than two runs in one of its seven games.

The strength of the Cowboys — at least in a modest seven-game sample — has been their pitching. Oklahoma State is one of only 11 clubs to feature a sub-2.00 staff ERA. All three of its scheduled starters have an ERA of 2.00 or less.

While Oklahoma State has only hit .261 and featured just a .355 on-base percentage, the Cowboys have slugged 12 home runs and collected 17 doubles for a top-25 slugging percentage of .492.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU hits the road for the first time this year, traveling to Oklahoma State for a three-game series from March 5-7. The Lopes won the 2020 season-opening series at GCU Ballpark against the Cowboys.

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