Completed Event: Baseball versus Rice on March 13, 2026 , Loss , 5, to, 16
Baseball
vs Rice
L 5-16
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, March 20
Bailey-Brayton Field • Pullman, Wash.
4 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
Washington State
Photo by: Josh Hauser
Mountain West play opens at Washington State
3/19/2026 4:23:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes visit Cougars for historic weekend
| PROBABLE PITCHERS | ||
| Friday at 4 p.m. |  LHP Nick Lewis (1-1, 5.13) |
 RHP JT Guerrero (1-2, 3.70) |
| Saturday at 2 p.m. | RHP Griffin Smith (1-2, 8.61) |
LHP Chase Frey (0-4, 6.87) |
| Sunday at 12 p.m. | TBA |
TBA |
Grand Canyon is set for a milestone weekend in Pullman, Washington, with the Lopes playing in their first series in the Mountain West Conference. The three-game series gets underway at the Cougars' Bailey-Brayton Field on Friday at 4 p.m.
All three games will stream on Mountain West Network.
3 THINGS TO KNOW
- MOUNTAIN WEST MILESTONE: GCU officially begins its era in the Mountain West with its first weekend of conference play. It will come against a temporary member of the league, as Washington State is a two-year affiliate member in baseball. GCU is the only MW team that did not have a conference series last weekend. The Lopes have had success in conference-opening weekends, winning their last four in the WAC and going 11-3-1 in conference-opening series at the Division I level.
- COUGAR CONNECTIONS: Washington State head coach Nathan Choate served as the Lopes' pitching coach from 2012-16. After stops at San Diego (pitching coach) and Loyola Marymount (pitching coach then head coach), Choate is in his third season as the Cougars' head coach. He was on staff with current GCU head coach Gregg Wallis under Lopes' former head coach Andy Stankiewicz.
- JT ON FRIDAY: Junior right-handed pitcher JT Guerrero is scheduled to get the ball on Friday night. The Fresno State transfer moves to the front of GCU's rotation coming off of three consecutive six-inning starts where he has posted a 3.00 ERA.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State opens its home slate this weekend at Bailey-Brayton Field carrying a 7-12 record and 1-2 mark in MW play. The Cougars have been tested early, posting road wins at Alabama, Cal Poly (twice), Long Beach State (twice) and Texas State while playing the nation's No. 60 strength of schedule. Choate's club returns significant experience, including 19 letterwinners and 81% of its innings pitched, with all three weekend rotation arms back. Offensively, WSU features preseason All-Mountain West outfielder Max Hartman, who hit .363 last season, and a lineup that improved its team batting average by 20 points year over year.
The Cougars finished eighth of eight in its first year in the MW in 2025, going 18-36 overall and 11-19 in conference play. WSU dropped its first MW series of 2026 at San Diego State last weekend. Washington State will be a part of the reworked Pac-12 beginning next year, reuniting with Oregon State to welcome in Texas State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Gonzaga and Dallas Baptist. The Cougars are looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.
WHAT'S NEXT?
GCU concludes its five-game stretch of road competition in Tucson on Tuesday, looking to repeat an earlier midweek win at Arizona. The Lopes will host San Diego State for their first home MW series next weekend.For more GCU baseball news, notes and numbers, click here to view game notes.
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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