Lopes, Sun Devils meet for 1st time since 2010

April 20-21 \| Tuesday: Phoenix Municipal Stadium \| Wednesday: Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark

	ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (19-11, 8-7 Pac-12)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (22-14-1, 16-4 WAC)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Tuesday, April 20 • 6:35 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch

TBA vs. TBA

Wednesday, April 21 • 6 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch

TBA vs. TBA

Grand Canyon and Arizona State will end an 11-year pause on a 68-year series when the two programs meet on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Winners of eight consecutively, the Lopes will take the nation's fifth-longest active win streak into a 6:35 p.m. game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Tuesday. The Sun Devils will return the favor a night later, trekking to Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark for a 6 p.m. Wednesday game.

Tuesday's game will be shown on ASU's live stream, while Wednesday's game will be broadcast on FOX 10 Xtra (Ch. 45/Cable 9), ESPN3 and the GCU YouTube channel with Barry Buetel (play-by-play), Tuffy Gosewisch (analysis) and Kate Longworth (reporter).

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

THAT PITCHING: GCU's pitching staff has hit its stride in the last 14 games. In a span of games when the Lopes are 12-2, GCU has allowed no more than four runs in a game and features an impressive 1.95 ERA. In 120 innings, the staff has struck out 132 and walked only 39 while limiting opponents to a .204 batting average.
LOPES AND PAC-12: Since the Lopes and Sun Devils last met in 2010, GCU has faced eight of the 10 remaining Pac-12 baseball programs. The Lopes logged wins against Stanford, Oregon, Arizona, USC and Utah in that stretch. GCU won four of its last five midweek matchups against Pac-12 schools, including a 10-inning, walk-off win against No. 16 Arizona at GCU Ballpark last week.
GCU AND ASU: A lengthy all-time series dates back to GCU's first season as a program in 1953 but has only been played twice since the turn of the century. The historic series spans 68 seasons and includes 112 previous meetings. Lopes 10th-year head coach Andy Stankiewicz was an Arizona State assistant coach from 2006 to 2009, while GCU pitching coach Jon Wente was a member of the Sun Devils pitching staff in 1996. The Lopes last defeated ASU on March 23, 1999, three meetings ago.

SCOUTING

Arizona State is just 4-6 in its last 10 games, but it has come against the teeth of its Pac-12 schedule, facing Arizona, Washington and Stanford. The Sun Devils won the series opener against the Cardinal last weekend but dropped the series with back-to-back losses.

The Sun Devils opened their season against WAC foe Sacramento State, taking two of three games from the Hornets.

Tracy Smith is in his seventh season as ASU's head coach and has led the Sun Devils to three NCAA tournaments, including the most recent one in 2019.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU will take a nine-day pause, its longest in-season break since 2012. When the Lopes return on April 30, it will be for a four-game series at WAC contender Sacramento State.

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

April 20-21 | Tuesday: Phoenix Municipal Stadium | Wednesday: Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark

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PITCHING PROBABLES

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

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