Lopes, Lancers set for 3 at GCU Ballpark

Thursday, April 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

California Baptist

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4/13/2022 10:00:00 PM | Baseball

GCU Notes CBU Notes GCU Media Guide

WAC's West Division leaders set for 3-game series rematch of conference-opening series

By: Josh Hauser

April 14-16 \| Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS (22-9, 8-4 WAC)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (23-11, 13-2 WAC)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Thursday, April 14 • 6 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch
RHP C.J. Culpepper (3-2, 3.52) vs. RHP Nick Hull (3-1, 2.30)

Friday, April 15 • 6 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch
RHP Brandon Downer (4-0, 4.46) vs. RHP Daniel Avitia (4-3, 2.03)

Saturday, April 16 • 12 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch
RHP Drew Necochea (5-2, 2.68) vs. LHP Connor Markl (5-1, 4.14)

For the second straight weekend, Grand Canyon will face a WAC foe that sits directly behind it in the WAC standings. The Lopes will host a three-game set against the California Baptist Lancers beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. at GCU Ballpark. GCU (13-2) holds a 3.5-game lead on CBU (8-4) in the WAC West Division standings.

All three games of the series will be streamed on ESPN+.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

POLLING: After a 5-0 week against No. 4 Texas Tech and Dixie State, GCU entered two national polls. The Lopes are ranked No. 23 in Perfect Game's top-25 poll and No. 29 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll. GCU is also receiving consideration in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll and the D1Baseball.com poll. GCU sits at No. 26 in the NCAA RPI.
ROUND 2: With a new-look conference scheduling format, GCU will begin the second round of conference action against its West Division foes. A three-game series with Seattle U awaits to end the regular season, but the other four remaining conference series come against opposition that the Lopes have already faced. The Lopes and Lancers opened WAC action in early March in Riverside, California, with the Lopes completing a dominant three-game sweep of CBU, outscoring the Lancers 32-7.
DANNY DEALIN': Freshman right-hander Daniel Avitia is enjoying an impressive rookie campaign. He was named to Perfect Game's Midseason Freshman All-American team this past week. Avitia is coming off of an appearance at Dixie State where he struck out 12 batters, the most by a GCU pitcher since 2004. Avitia leads the conference and ranks 41st in the nation with a 2.03 ERA. He is part of a Lopes pitching staff that holds the nation's No. 23 ERA.

SCOUTING

California Baptist has won its last seven conference games after a 1-4 start. The Lancers have swept Seattle U and New Mexico State. CBU was off from conference action last weekend, losing a road series at Air Force.

The Lopes swept the three-game series in early March in Riverside. GCU won a tight opening game before cruising to lopsided victories in Games 2 and 3, including a 19-3 mercy-rule win on Sunday.

CBU and GCU split the WAC's regular-season title last year. The teams represent two of the nation's 34 teams that are hitting over .300 on the season.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes will embark on a stretch of nine consecutive games away from Phoenix, beginning with a four-game weekend at San Diego State split with games against the Aztecs and the Stanford Cardinal.

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