Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball
| Grand Canyon Antelopes | |
|---|---|
 2024 Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball team | |
 | |
| University | Grand Canyon University |
| Head coach | Andy Stankiewicz (5th season) |
| Conference | Western Athletic |
| Location | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Home stadium | Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark (Capacity: 3,500) |
| Nickname | Lopes |
| Colors | Purple, black, and white[1] |
| NCAA Tournament champions | |
| 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986 (NAIA) | |
| Regular season conference champions | |
| 1998, 2015, 2017[2] | |
The Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball team (commonly referred to as the Lopes) represents Grand Canyon University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the Western Athletic Conference. They are currently coached by Andy Stankiewicz and assistant coaches Gregg Wallis, Rich Dorman and Justin Gemoll. They play home games on campus at Brazell Stadium. The Lopes are amid a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, meaning Grand Canyon cannot qualify for the WAC Conference tournament nor the NCAA Tournament until the 2018 season. The Antelopes have four NAIA baseball titles to their name, winning in 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1986.[3] The school made a return to the WAC Conference for the 2014 season after competing in the conference from 1995-1998 (baseball only), winning the North Division title in 1998. [4]
Facilities
Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark is the home of Grand Canyon Baseball. The field was named in honor of Dr. Dave Brazell, who is renowned as "the founder and developer of Canyon baseball." [5] The field is completely natural grass. The all-green outfield wall features an inning-by-inning scoreboard in left field. The outfield wall runs along 35th Avenue in West Phoenix.
Honors
Grand Canyon players have been named to numerous NAIA and NCAA Division II All-American teams. Grand Canyon's short four-year stint in Division I (1995-1998) resulted in a few team awards. In 1997, the Antelopes were also recognized as the country's most improved team, winning 15.5 more games, and in 1998, the Antelopes won the WAC North Division before returning to Division II.
In 2015, after returning to Division I, Grand Canyon won the 2015 regular season WAC title.[6]
Notable individuals
Major Leaguers
Current professional players
| Player | GCU Start | GCU End | Position | Current Organization |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cody Ransom | 1998 | 1998 | 3B, SS | Saitama Seibu Lions |
| Jeff Urlaub | 2010 | 2010 | P | Oakland Athletics |
| Brady Wager | 2010 | 2012 | P | Baltimore Orioles |
See also
References
- ^ "Grand Canyon University Athletic Brand Standards". September 20, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
- ^ "Grand Canyon baseball wins its first WAC regular season title". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ^ a b http://www.gculopes.com/documents/2013/9/20/Antelopes_in_Postseason.pdf?id=3685
- ^ "Arizona Local News - Phoenix Arizona News - Phoenix Breaking News". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
- ^ "GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY - Brazell Stadium". Gculopes.com. 1987-02-21. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
- ^ Metcalfe, Jeff (May 18, 2015). "Grand Canyon baseball wins its first WAC regular season title". Arizona Central.
External links
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