GCU, Arizona begin season series in Tucson

Tuesday, March 19 \| Hi Corbett Field \| Tucson, Ariz.

	ARIZONA WILDCATS (8-10, 3-3 Pac-12)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (11-8, 5-1 WAC)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Tuesday, March 19 • 6 p.m.
Live Stats • Pac-12 Insider
RHP Anthony Susac (0-1, 11.88) vs. LHP Ben Smith (0-1, 5.14)

Grand Canyon and Arizona open a three-game season series of midweeks on Tuesday in Tucson in a 6 p.m. game that will stream on Pac-12 Insider.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

FUN SERIES: The Lopes and Wildcats have been playing multiple times per season since 2017, save for the shortened 2020 season. GCU and Arizona have split the last 10 meetings dating back to 2019. All three meetings last season were decided by two or fewer runs, with the last two meetings both walk-off wins for the host.
THE LONG BALL: GCU has morphed into a lineup with some pop led by junior Beau Ankeney (8), sophomore Zach Yorke (6) and senior Tyler Wilson (5). Collectively, the Lopes have homered 30 times this season, a mark that ranks in the top 40. At GCU's current pace, it would hit 87 regular-season home runs which would be the program's most in a season since 1989.
CLEAN BASEBALL: Defense wins championships? The Lopes have played some pretty clean baseball to open 2024, ranking 13th nationally with a .983 fielding percentage. GCU has not committed an error in its last six games and is 11-2 in games where it does not commit an error.

SCOUTING

Arizona is in its third season under program alum and former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale. The Wildcats qualified for NCAA tournament play in his first two seasons leading the program despite a 12-18 mark in Pac-12 play last year.

The Wildcats are off to an 8-10 start and enter Tuesday's game having lost four of their last five. Arizona, however, loudly ended a four-game losing streak with a 14-3 blowout of Arizona State on Sunday.

Arizona has lost series to Arizona State (home) and San Diego (away) while winning weekend series against Northeastern (home) and USC (away). The Wildcats are 1-2 in midweek action with a convincing win over Utah Tech and losses to TCU and Loyola Marymount.

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU returns to Texas for the third time in March, beginning a three-game conference series at UT Rio Grande Valley on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time).

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

Tuesday, March 19 | Hi Corbett Field | Tucson, Ariz.

vs.

PITCHING PROBABLES

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Beau Ankeney

Ben Smith

Tyler Wilson

Zach Yorke

Grand Canyon University Athletics