WAC heavyweights meet in Sacramento

Friday, April 30

Sacramento, Calif.

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Sacramento State

4/29/2021 1:50:00 PM | Baseball

GCU Notes SAC Notes GCU Media Guide

Lopes, Hornets have combined for 7 WAC titles, .676 win percentage since 2014

By: Josh Hauser

April 30 - May 2 \| John Smith Field \| Sacramento, Calif.

	SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (25-13, 16-8 WAC)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (23-15-1, 16-4 WAC)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Friday, April 30 • 5 p.m.
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RHP Travis Adams (5-1, 2.77) vs. RHP Zach Barnes (4-5, 4.25)

Saturday, May 1 • 2 p.m.
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RHP Kevin Haynes (1-1, 4.11) vs. RHP Pierson Ohl (5-1, 2.83)

Saturday, May 1 • 5 p.m.
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RHP Eli Saul (1-2, 10.93) vs. RHP Dawson McCarville (2-2, 4.11)

Sunday, May 2 • 1 p.m.
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RHP Scott Randall (6-1, 2.73) vs. RHP Carter Young (6-0, 2.00)

The WAC's most consistently dominant baseball programs meet for a four-game conference series at John Smith Field this weekend. Since the conference's restructuring in 2014, the Lopes and Hornets have combined to win seven of the 12 WAC regular-season or tournament championships and boast a record of 240-115 (.676) in WAC play.

All four games, including a Saturday doubleheader, will be broadcast on the WAC Digital Network. There also will be an audio stream with GCU play-by-play announcer Michael Potter available on GCULopes.com/watch and the GCU Lopes app.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

APRIL ACHIEVEMENT: GCU won't be ready to bid farewell to April when the calendar flips on Saturday. With a 12-3 record, the Lopes are enjoying their most successful month since going 20-1 in March 2013. GCU is hitting .293 while holding a 2.74 ERA.
WAC STANDINGS: Because of COVID-19, this year's conference standings only consider win totals. California Baptist leads the WAC with 17 wins, while the Lopes and Hornets sit one game back with 16 victories. GCU has four more conference games remaining on its schedule than Sac State, and the Lopes will end the regular season with a home series against CBU.
OHL'S DOMINANCE: Lopes junior pitcher Pierson Ohl is one of the nation's top 10 draft-eligible pitchers, per D1Baseball.com analytics. He has posted four consecutive complete-game wins in conference play. Ohl has consecutive 11-strikeout starts, the first GCU pitcher with multiple games of 11 or more strikeouts in the same season since Jeff Swanson in 2004. Ohl is the anchor in a Lopes rotation that has recorded a quality start in seven of the last eight WAC games.

SCOUTING

Sacramento State had a strong start to the season, putting it in the Collegiate Baseball top-25 poll for the first time in program history. Since last appearing in the poll on April 12, the Hornets have gone 4-6 with a home series loss to Seattle U and a split at Northern Colorado.

The Hornets feature a well-rounded team that ranks 44th in batting average (.289), 97th in ERA (4.51) and ninth in fielding percentage (.981).

In the last eight days, the Hornets have played six games while the Lopes have not played. GCU's break in its schedule was its longest since 2012. Sac State played a two-game midweek series at Kansas on Tuesday and Wednesday, winning 11-6 and losing 6-4.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU puts a cap on its nonconference schedule with a road game at Arizona on Tuesday. The Lopes then host another WAC series against Dixie State over the weekend.

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