Nonconference schedule concludes at Baylor

Tuesday, May 9 \| Baylor Ballpark \| Waco, Texas

	BAYLOR BEARS (16-30)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (30-19)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Tuesday, May 9 • 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Live Stats • Watch on ESPN+
RHP Mason Marriott (1-5, 8.12) vs. LHP Connor Markl (3-1, 6.17)

Grand Canyon will play its final nonconference game of the regular season, paying a visit to Baylor on Tuesday night. The Lopes carry a seven-game win streak into a game against a Bears team that was off from weekend action.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

YORKE WATCH: Freshman first baseman Zach Yorke, newly named the WAC Hitter of the Week, is closing in on an impressive milestone. After a grand slam vaulted him into program history for the most RBIs by a freshman in a Division I season, Yorke is now eyeing the all-time mark. He needs just four more RBIs to surpass Tim Salmon's 1987 total of 61 RBIs for most by a GCU freshman.
THE MEETING THAT WASN'T: GCU and Baylor have not met on the baseball diamond since 1994 and not in Waco since 1991. That streak almost ended three years ago, however, with the Lopes' team bus pointed for Waco after a midweek series in Fayetteville, Arkansas. On the road to Baylor for a three-game weekend series, GCU took a detour back to Phoenix when the NCAA announced it was canceling the spring sports season because of COVID-19.
START STRONG: GCU continued its torrid pace in first innings this season, scoring in the opening frame in each of the weekend's three games at Tarleton. The Lopes jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first in Game 1, plated two runs in the first in Game 2 and capped off the series with another four-run opening inning on Sunday. GCU has scored in the first inning in 21 of its last 32 games. Junior leadoff man Homer Bush Jr. boasts a .478 on-base percentage and has stolen 19 bases. Factor in those metrics with the fact that Bush has RBI machines Jacob Wilson and Yorke batting behind him, and the Lopes have established a nice first-inning scoring formula.

SCOUTING

Baylor is rebuilding under first-year head coach Mitch Thompson, a former longtime Baylor assistant coach who most recently built a nationally prominent junior college program at McLennan Community College in Waco.

The Bears enter with a 16-30 mark and did not play a weekend series, last competing against Abilene Christian and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. Baylor is 3-3 against fellow WAC opponents this year, defeating Sam Houston twice and beating Stephen F. Austin once while falling to Abilene Christian twice and Tarleton once.

Baylor made three straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament from 2017 to 2019 but is looking to reach the same level of success as the late 1990s to early 2010s, when Thompson was first on staff. In that stretch, Baylor advanced to four super regionals and the 2005 College World Series.

Baylor hits .261 as a team (236th nationally) and has a staff ERA of 6.94 (232nd nationally).

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU completes its extended Texas road trip and the regular-season road schedule with a three-game conference series at UT Rio Grande Valley beginning on Friday.

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

Tuesday, May 9 | Baylor Ballpark | Waco, Texas

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PITCHING PROBABLES

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Homer Bush Jr.

Connor Markl

Jacob Wilson

Zach Yorke

Grand Canyon University Athletics