1st road trip sends Lopes to Sacramento

March 17-19 \| John Smith Field \| Sacramento, Calif.

	SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (9-7, 0-0 WAC)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (12-4, 3-0 WAC)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Friday, March 17 • 6 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch
RHP Jasper Nelson (0-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Zach Thornton (2-0, 1.09)

Saturday, March 18 • 4 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch
LHP Noah Lucchesi (2-2, 3.12) vs. RHP Daniel Avitia (2-1, 1.83)

Sunday, March 19 • 12 p.m.
Live Stats • Watch
RHP Evan Gibbons (1-1, 9.53) vs. LHP Connor Markl (1-0, 2.86)

Grand Canyon leaves the Phoenix area for the first time this season, visiting Sacramento State for a weekend WAC series. The Lopes look to improve on a four-game win streak and a 3-0 start in conference play, while the Hornets will be opening their WAC schedule.

All three games will be live streamed on ESPN+.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

.400?: Grand Canyon's offense is off to a .313 start through 16 games, an impressive team batting average that ranks 30th nationally. But a few Lopes rise above and surpass the .400 mark. Standout shortstop Jacob Wilson is hitting a scorching .459 to rank 24th nationally. A freshman has burst onto the scene to join him, as first baseman Zach Yorke sports a .400 batting average. Wilson and Yorke also lead the club with 23 and 17 RBIs, respectively.
THAT ROTATION THOUGH: It may only be mid-March, but the sample size continues to grow and the results only get better for GCU's three-man starting pitching rotation. The trio of Thornton, Avitia and Markl have combined to toss 66 1/3 innings thus far and feature a sparkling combined ERA of 1.90 with 77 strikeouts and just 15 walks.
EIGHTH-INNING PHENOMENON: The favorite inning of the Lopes in 2023 has certainly been the eighth. That fact was underscored in the last week of February when the Lopes scored 11, 6, 3 and 5 runs in consecutive eighth innings. GCU has scored 43 eighth-inning runs this season, more than double any other inning. The Lopes have scored in 9 of the 15 eighth innings so far this season.

SCOUTING

Sacramento State began its season by winning six of seven games but dropped six of the next nine to arrive at its current 9-7 mark. The Hornets are opening WAC play this weekend. Sac State is riding the momentum of a dominant 9-0 win at Fresno State in midweek action.

Reggie Christian is in his 13th season leading the Hornets and has taken the program to three NCAA Tournaments, most recently in 2019. Christiansen added former GCU pitching coach Jon Wente to his coaching staff this offseason and former Lopes manager Tyler Wente as the program's director of operations.

The Hornets have hit only .257 as a team but rank 88th nationally in hits allower per nine innings at 8.6. Senior pitcher Jack Zalasky is tied for third nationally with five saves.

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU returns to Arizona for five games, as two away games at Arizona State and Arizona bookend a three-game home series against Sam Houston.

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

March 17-19 | John Smith Field | Sacramento, Calif.

at

PITCHING PROBABLES

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Daniel Avitia

Connor Markl

Zach Thornton

Jacob Wilson

Zach Yorke

Grand Canyon University Athletics