Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, April 28
Reno, Nev.
3 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
Long Beach State
Lopes battle Long Beach State, Nevada in Reno
4/27/2023 10:34:00 PM | Baseball
GCU will watch heated WAC race from afar, play 4-game weekend against 2 opponents
Friday, April 28 to Sunday, April 30 | William Peccole Park | Reno, Nev. |
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GRAND CANYON
LOPES (23-18)
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LONG BEACHÂ STATE
DIRTBAGS (22-15)
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NEVADA
WOLF PACK (16-22)
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PITCHING PROBABLES |
| Friday, April 28 • 3 p.m. • vs. Long Beach State Live Stats | Listen Live RHP Daniel Avitia (5-1, 3.59)  vs.  RHP Nico Zeglin (4-4, 2.58) |
| Saturday, April 29 • 1 p.m. • vs. Long Beach State Live Stats | Listen Live RHP Carter Young (0-2, 8.33)  vs.  RHP Kellan Montgomery (2-2, 3.49) |
| Saturday, April 29 • 4:30 p.m. • vs. Nevada Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live LHP Zach Thornton (5-1, 3.32)  vs.  RHP Peyton Stumbo (2-4, 4.46) |
| Sunday, April 30 • 11 a.m. • vs. Nevada Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live TBA  vs.  RHP Jason Doktorczyk (3-2, 5.47) |
Grand Canyon is in the thick of a heated conference race but will play the role of observer as the Lopes head to Reno, Nevada, for four nonconference games against Long Beach State and Nevada beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. In GCU's first trip to Reno since 2019, it will be starting a stretch of 11 road games in a 12-game span.
GCU's games against the host Wolf Pack on Saturday and Sunday will be available for video streaming. All four games will be available via free live audio stream on GCULopes.com and the GCU Lopes app with Michael Potter.
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THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- AVITIA ANTICS: The reigning WAC Pitcher of the Year has rounded into form of late, as sophomore righty Daniel Avitia has strung together four quality starts. In Avitia's first four starts in the month of April, he has gone at least six innings and allowed no more than three earned runs. His April earned run average is an impressive 2.25. Avitia is 5-1 on the season and looks to continue his momentum into the weekend opener against Long Beach State on Friday afternoon.
 - WILSON WATCH: With a wild weekend that featured two go-ahead grand slams, GCU junior shortstop Jacob Wilson shot up the program's career leaderboards for RBIs at the Division I level. He tied the record on Sunday with his 142nd RBI and needs one to break the record. Wilson also reached the 200-hit mark for his career and needs 17 more hits to break GCU's D-I career record.
 - POWER PLAY: The power has began to factor into the Lopes' game of late. After averaging 0.75 home runs per game through the first 32 games of the season, the Lopes have more than doubled that number in the last nine games at 1.56 home runs per game. Included in the stretch is an eight-homer weekend at Abilene Christian and a five-homer weekend against Utah Tech.
SCOUTING
Long Beach State
The Lopes will meet up with Long Beach State under familiar circumstances. The teams have only played once since 2009, but it was also at a neutral site as part of a multi-team weekend. The Dirtbags claimed a 2017 meeting between the program's played at Pepperdine's scenic Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu, California.
By the numbers, the Dirtbags bring the top pitching staff of the three teams playing in Reno. A 4.40 staff ERA ranks No. 37 nationally. Long Beach State also features a 2.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio that ranks 10th nationally.
Both GCU and Long Beach State have faced Seattle U (GCU:Â 1-2, LBSU: 2-1) and UC San Diego (GCU: 1-0, LBSU: 0-3).
Lopes junior Elijah Buries and sophomore Maxwell Andeel attended Orange Lutheran High School, as did Long Beach State freshmen Bryan Martinez and Chase Cummings. Andeel, Martinez and Cummings were teammates in the 2021 season. GCUÂ junior pitcher Nathan Ward was high school teammates of the Dirtbags' Nick Wallerstedt at Mountain Pointe.
Nevada
GCU and Nevada will meet in a rematch of 2022's opening weekend series in Phoenix where the Wolf Pack won two of three. The Lopes last visited Peccole Park for a midweek matchup in 2019, winning 8-2.
The Wolf Pack does not rank above 80th nationally in any major statistical category, but junior righty Kolby Kmetko — a Phoenix native — has racked up six saves to rank in the nation's top 40.
Both GCU and Nevada have already played Abilene Christian (GCU: 2-1, NEV: 1-3), Sacramento State (GCU: 2-1, NEV: 0-2), Oregon State (GCU: 0-1, NEV: 1-1), UNLV (GCU: 0-1, NEV: 2-4) and New Mexico (GCU: 1-0, NEV: 0-2).
GCU's Ward again has a former teammate to face as Yavapai alum and senior utilityman Cameron Jowaiszas was in Prescott with Ward in 2021.Â
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WHAT'S NEXT
The Lopes briefly return home for Los Lopes Night and a midweek matchup against Arizona on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on FOX 10 Xtra and ESPN+.Â
For more GCU baseball news, notes and numbers, click here to view game notes and click here to view the media guide.
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Players Mentioned
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