Upcoming Event: Baseball versus MLB Desert Invitational on February 13, 2026
Baseball
vs MLB Desert Invitational
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, February 17
Scottsdale, Ariz. / Salt River Fields
1 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
UC San Diego
2-time tourney team swings for next level
2/16/2023 4:00:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
Regional-tested rotation, lineup bode well for Wallis' 1st season at GCU helm
A Grand Canyon baseball calendar always has featured February, March, April and May, taking the Lopes from Opening Day through fixtures such as Arizona, Arizona State and other major programs' visits to GCU Ballpark and leading up to the WAC Tournament in late May.
In the past two seasons, the Lopes have added June baseball. This season, they plan to use more of the month.
GCU starts its quest for a third consecutive NCAA tournament visit on Friday with a new head coach, nine-year assistant coach Gregg Wallis, and a renewed goal of taking its season deeper into June.
The Lopes open at 1 p.m. Friday against UC San Diego at Salt River Fields, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Spring Training facility, before continuing the four-day MLB Desert Invitational with a 6 p.m. Saturday home opener against No. 2 Tennessee. Both games will air on MLB Network, including the GCU baseball's first nationally televised home game.
"They've got bigger goals," said Wallis, who quickly was named Lopes head coach when his 11-year predecessor, Andy Stankiewicz, returned to his hometown to rebuild USC. "Not that it's going to be easy to do, but I don't think anybody is satisfied with just getting to a regional. These guys have done it twice and we're 0-4, so we want to get back and compete better.
"That newness of just being in a regional has worn off. I'm not putting us there already. We have to do a lot of work to get to a regional, but I do feel this team isn't going to be happy with just showing up to a regional. They want to get to a regional championship and try to get to a super regional."
The confidence comes from all directions, with GCU boasting a MLB Draft top-10 prospect in junior shortstop Jacob Wilson, the returning WAC Pitcher of the Year in sophomore Daniel Aviita and eight of last season's top 11 hitters, including Preseason All-WAC juniors Elijah Buries and Connor Markl.
Avitia, a right-hander, and Markl, a left-hander, return to highlight the pitching rotation after starting 26 games last season with 186 strikeouts in 154 innings.
They could potentially form a weekend rotation with another left-hander, Barton (Kansas) Community College transfer Zach Thornton, who will be Friday's Opening Day starter.
By opening the season with two four-game weekends, GCU will work in more experienced arms with graduate right-hander Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis, who has 54 career appearances, and junior right-hander Carter Young, who has 24 career starts, while 6-foot-3 freshman right-hander Isaac Lyon progresses promisingly.
Avitia, the 6-foot-4 WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year who grew up blocks from GCU, carried the 28th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.84 to 1) in the nation as a freshman and became one of GCU's front-line starting pitchers after three relief appearances. Because he is stronger, Wallis said Avitia could maintain his velocity later in games this season.
"I feel like I've gotten better as a person, player and everything," Avitia said. "With our new pitching coach (Nathan Bannister), I've developed a way better slider and gotten way more comfortable with it. He's taught me a lot more pitchingwise, being smarter in counts. Last year, I was just throwing the ball out there. This year, I feel like I know what I'm doing more."
Markl, another Valley product from Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep, was a big-game pitcher last season, starting or appearing in Lopes wins against Arizona, Oregon State and Stanford. He will get the start Saturday night against No. 2 Tenneseee.
His three-pitch command has taken another jump after playing a summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
"Connor is very driven," Wallis said. "His work ethic is outstanding. He has sharpened all of his pitches. His velocity is up and he's really developed his slider. I feel like he's going to take the next step of being a really, really good weekend starter."
Markl believes the same for Wallis stepping up to lead a program that finished last regular season in the national top 25 but saw its opponent take an eighth-inning lead in its regional exit two years in a row.
"I like the differences that he (Wallis) has brought to the clubhouse and our practices," Markl said. "He brought in a great staff that has been very supportive and helpful for all of us in our individual growth and as a team. This is our best team that we've had and we're ready to showcase that.
"Talent will speak for itself. It's the best team chemistry we've had in my three years here. Everyone's on the same page about what we want to do, where we want to go and how we want to present ourselves to the world."
Wallis said his biggest question revolves around middle-innings relievers, who will be called upon to stretch leads to new closer Tyson Heaton, an appropriately named junior right-hander and Central Arizona transfer.
Ten of 12 opposing WAC coaches picked GCU to win its fifth regular-season conference title in six years. That also speaks to a GCU offense that looks to make up for lost power with more balance. The Lopes have the 22nd-best batting average (.290) in the nation since 2014 after ranking 19th nationally last season at .307.
The heart of the lineup and defense is Wilson, whose father, former MLB All-Star infielder Jack, is a first-year GCU assistant coach. The shortstop and Golden Spikes Award semifinalist struck out at a lower rate than any player in the nation last season (once per 35 at bats) and developed more at Cape Cod and as a USA Baseball Collegiate Team top hitter last summer.
The infield around Wilson could have moving parts early in the season, although with fewer position players on the roster than usual.
"We're experienced, and that's settling for me as a first-time head coach, knowing that we've got a lot of guys who have played bigtime games," Wallis said. "It'll settle as the season goes, but there's going to be a lot of guys getting opportunities."
Arkansas senior transfer Zack Gregory adds to junior Dustin Crenshaw and UCLA sophomore transfer Eli Paton to play second base or third base while junior Tyler Wilson returns at first base with Paton or freshman Zach Yorke, a Glendale Mountain Ridge High School product.
Buries, who hit .335 last season, moves to left field with sophomore Maxwell Andeel also getting time there while junior Cade Verdusco shifts to right field for an arm that baserunners must beware. Junior Homer Bush Jr. starts in center field for a second season. Bush became a top-100 MLB Draft prospect because of his leap last season and his play in Cape Cod and fall ball.
"Verdusco has taken that junior-year jump to possibly being not just all-conference but WAC Player of the Year type," Wallis said. "Hopefully, he's got to battle for that with a bunch of other guys on our club."
Senior Josh Buckley. a .368 hitter last year after starting his season in April, returns at catcher but will miss the start of the season with burns on his left hand from a cooking accident. Redshirt freshman John Sheehan of Elk Grove, California, backs up Buckley with Yorke.
The GCU baseball staples of game approach and respect have not changed under Wallis, who added his wrinkles to practices and the clubhouse. The butterflies began earlier this week for a special opportunity to lead a program in which he played a massive part in putting on the national radar.
He feels his Lopes are prepared, and their goals say as much.
"Go to Omaha," Avitia said. "I think this is our year."
In the past two seasons, the Lopes have added June baseball. This season, they plan to use more of the month.
GCU starts its quest for a third consecutive NCAA tournament visit on Friday with a new head coach, nine-year assistant coach Gregg Wallis, and a renewed goal of taking its season deeper into June.
The Lopes open at 1 p.m. Friday against UC San Diego at Salt River Fields, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Spring Training facility, before continuing the four-day MLB Desert Invitational with a 6 p.m. Saturday home opener against No. 2 Tennessee. Both games will air on MLB Network, including the GCU baseball's first nationally televised home game.
"They've got bigger goals," said Wallis, who quickly was named Lopes head coach when his 11-year predecessor, Andy Stankiewicz, returned to his hometown to rebuild USC. "Not that it's going to be easy to do, but I don't think anybody is satisfied with just getting to a regional. These guys have done it twice and we're 0-4, so we want to get back and compete better."That newness of just being in a regional has worn off. I'm not putting us there already. We have to do a lot of work to get to a regional, but I do feel this team isn't going to be happy with just showing up to a regional. They want to get to a regional championship and try to get to a super regional."
The confidence comes from all directions, with GCU boasting a MLB Draft top-10 prospect in junior shortstop Jacob Wilson, the returning WAC Pitcher of the Year in sophomore Daniel Aviita and eight of last season's top 11 hitters, including Preseason All-WAC juniors Elijah Buries and Connor Markl.
Avitia, a right-hander, and Markl, a left-hander, return to highlight the pitching rotation after starting 26 games last season with 186 strikeouts in 154 innings.
They could potentially form a weekend rotation with another left-hander, Barton (Kansas) Community College transfer Zach Thornton, who will be Friday's Opening Day starter.
By opening the season with two four-game weekends, GCU will work in more experienced arms with graduate right-hander Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis, who has 54 career appearances, and junior right-hander Carter Young, who has 24 career starts, while 6-foot-3 freshman right-hander Isaac Lyon progresses promisingly.
Avitia, the 6-foot-4 WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year who grew up blocks from GCU, carried the 28th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.84 to 1) in the nation as a freshman and became one of GCU's front-line starting pitchers after three relief appearances. Because he is stronger, Wallis said Avitia could maintain his velocity later in games this season."I feel like I've gotten better as a person, player and everything," Avitia said. "With our new pitching coach (Nathan Bannister), I've developed a way better slider and gotten way more comfortable with it. He's taught me a lot more pitchingwise, being smarter in counts. Last year, I was just throwing the ball out there. This year, I feel like I know what I'm doing more."
Markl, another Valley product from Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep, was a big-game pitcher last season, starting or appearing in Lopes wins against Arizona, Oregon State and Stanford. He will get the start Saturday night against No. 2 Tenneseee.
His three-pitch command has taken another jump after playing a summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
"Connor is very driven," Wallis said. "His work ethic is outstanding. He has sharpened all of his pitches. His velocity is up and he's really developed his slider. I feel like he's going to take the next step of being a really, really good weekend starter."Markl believes the same for Wallis stepping up to lead a program that finished last regular season in the national top 25 but saw its opponent take an eighth-inning lead in its regional exit two years in a row.
"I like the differences that he (Wallis) has brought to the clubhouse and our practices," Markl said. "He brought in a great staff that has been very supportive and helpful for all of us in our individual growth and as a team. This is our best team that we've had and we're ready to showcase that.
"Talent will speak for itself. It's the best team chemistry we've had in my three years here. Everyone's on the same page about what we want to do, where we want to go and how we want to present ourselves to the world."
Wallis said his biggest question revolves around middle-innings relievers, who will be called upon to stretch leads to new closer Tyson Heaton, an appropriately named junior right-hander and Central Arizona transfer.
Ten of 12 opposing WAC coaches picked GCU to win its fifth regular-season conference title in six years. That also speaks to a GCU offense that looks to make up for lost power with more balance. The Lopes have the 22nd-best batting average (.290) in the nation since 2014 after ranking 19th nationally last season at .307.
The heart of the lineup and defense is Wilson, whose father, former MLB All-Star infielder Jack, is a first-year GCU assistant coach. The shortstop and Golden Spikes Award semifinalist struck out at a lower rate than any player in the nation last season (once per 35 at bats) and developed more at Cape Cod and as a USA Baseball Collegiate Team top hitter last summer.The infield around Wilson could have moving parts early in the season, although with fewer position players on the roster than usual.
"We're experienced, and that's settling for me as a first-time head coach, knowing that we've got a lot of guys who have played bigtime games," Wallis said. "It'll settle as the season goes, but there's going to be a lot of guys getting opportunities."
Arkansas senior transfer Zack Gregory adds to junior Dustin Crenshaw and UCLA sophomore transfer Eli Paton to play second base or third base while junior Tyler Wilson returns at first base with Paton or freshman Zach Yorke, a Glendale Mountain Ridge High School product.
Buries, who hit .335 last season, moves to left field with sophomore Maxwell Andeel also getting time there while junior Cade Verdusco shifts to right field for an arm that baserunners must beware. Junior Homer Bush Jr. starts in center field for a second season. Bush became a top-100 MLB Draft prospect because of his leap last season and his play in Cape Cod and fall ball.
"Verdusco has taken that junior-year jump to possibly being not just all-conference but WAC Player of the Year type," Wallis said. "Hopefully, he's got to battle for that with a bunch of other guys on our club."
Senior Josh Buckley. a .368 hitter last year after starting his season in April, returns at catcher but will miss the start of the season with burns on his left hand from a cooking accident. Redshirt freshman John Sheehan of Elk Grove, California, backs up Buckley with Yorke.
The GCU baseball staples of game approach and respect have not changed under Wallis, who added his wrinkles to practices and the clubhouse. The butterflies began earlier this week for a special opportunity to lead a program in which he played a massive part in putting on the national radar.
He feels his Lopes are prepared, and their goals say as much.
"Go to Omaha," Avitia said. "I think this is our year."
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