Grand Canyon University head baseball coach Andy Stankiewicz today announced the 2015 schedule for the Antelopes, highlighted by 28 home games at Brazell Stadium and meetings against perennial baseball powers Cal Poly, Tennessee, and Oklahoma State.
Last season, as the Lopes made their return to Division I and Western Athletic Conference play, GCU boasted a 30-23 overall record, including a 19-8 conference mark, good enough for a second place finish in the WAC.
“It will be nice to play more games at home this year,” said Stankiewicz. “Last year, we had to schedule a lot of away games, but here in our second season at the Division I level, we were able to even that out. It is always nice to play in front of our home fans.”
Following their annual Alumni Game on Feb. 7, the Lopes will host the Grand Canyon Classic in Phoenix, welcoming North Dakota State, Omaha, and Bradley from Feb. 13-15. GCU will then play host to UNLV on Feb. 17 before heading to San Luis Obispo to take on Cal Poly for a three-game set beginning Feb. 20. The Mustangs were ranked as high as No. 1 in the country according to Collegiate Baseball during the 2014 season and advanced to the San Luis Obispo regional championship game before falling to Pepperdine.
The Lopes will play six straight in the friendly confines of Brazell Stadium from Feb. 27-March 4, squaring off against Wisconsin-Milwaukee for four games before a midweek, two-game series with 2014 NCAA regional tournament qualifier Kansas.
GCU will then play seven straight on the road, beginning with a three-game set at Tennessee from March 6-8. The following weekend, the Lopes head to Stillwater, Okla., for three games at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys advanced to host a Super Regional during the 2014 postseason. A midweek game on March 17 at UNLV concludes the long road stretch for GCU.
“When we became Division I, we wanted to be aggressive in scheduling opponents that have had a strong history of success,” added Stankiewicz. “We have been able to do that so far. You look at last year, going to UC Irvine, Arizona, Washington, and Kansas, and playing schools that have been there and had success. They are where we want to be.”
“What better way to find out what it is going to take to get there than by playing teams like Cal Poly, Tennessee, and Oklahoma State,” Stankiewicz said. “We are going to challenge ourselves as a program to compete with those teams because that’s how you get better. It will be a big challenge, but it is one that our guys are excited about. There may be some frustrating moments, but in the end, it will help our program get stronger, quicker.”
WAC play opens at home for the Lopes when North Dakota comes into town for a three-game series on March 20. A non-conference matchup with Santa Clara follows at Brazell Stadium, as GCU will play two against the Broncos on March 24-25 before embarking on a quick trip to Chicago for a WAC meeting at Chicago State from March 27-29.
A seven-game home stretch begins with a non-conference game against Loyola Marymount on March 31 before UTPA comes to Phoenix for a three-game series beginning April 3. The Lopes will then square off against Northern Colorado from April 10-12.
The longest stretch away from home for GCU will be 10 straight road games from April 14-29, when they play New Mexico twice (April 14-15), New Mexico State three times (April 17-19), Utah Valley three times (April 24-26), and Texas Tech twice (April 28-29).
GCU will play back-to-back home WAC series against Seattle U (May 1-3) and Bakersfield (May 8-10) before heading out to Sacramento State for their final road series of the season on May 14. The Hornets represented the WAC in the San Luis Obispo regional last season, defeating nationally-ranked Arizona State, after winning the regular season and conference tournament championship.
“I think in some ways we snuck up on some teams in the WAC last season,” said Stankiewicz. “It is going to be competitive, because looking at it up and down, the WAC is a solid league. It is going to be a dogfight, but we fully expect to be in the middle of it. Of course, you have to stay healthy and things have to go your way. Last year, we were able to set a bit of a foundation of where we want to be, and we feel like we should always finish at the top of the conference.”
