Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball

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 Paul Panaccione. They play home games on campus at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark. The Lopes recently completed a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, where Grand Canyon could not qualify for the WAC 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 for the 2014 season after competing in the conference from 1995-1998 (baseball only), winning the North Division title in 1998.[4]

Grand Canyon Antelopes
2019 Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball team
UniversityGrand Canyon University
Head coachAndy Stankiewicz (9th season)
ConferenceWestern Athletic
LocationPhoenix, Arizona
Home stadiumBrazell Field at GCU Ballpark
(Capacity: 4,000)
NicknameLopes
ColorsPurple, Black, and White[1]
              
NCAA Tournament champions
1980, 1981, 1982, 1986 (NAIA)
Conference champions
1998, 2015, 2017,[2] 2018

Facilities
Main article: Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark

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 mostly natural grass save for foul territory which is artificial turf. 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
PlayerGCU StartGCU EndMLB teamsMLB StartMLB End
Frank Snook19691971San Diego Padres19731973
Tom Tellmann19761976San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics19791985
Dave Stapleton19821983Milwaukee Brewers19871988
Brad Moore19861986Philadelphia Phillies19881990
Randy McCament19841985San Francisco Giants19891990
Kevin Wickander19841986Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers19891996
John Patterson19871988San Francisco Giants19921995
Chad Curtis19891989Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers19922001
Tim Salmon19871989Los Angeles Angels19922006
Brett Merriman19881988Minnesota Twins19931994
Paul Swingle19891989Los Angeles Angels19931993
Steve Phoenix19891990Oakland Athletics19941995
Cody Ransom19981998San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs20012013
Brian Broderick20072007Washington Nationals20112011

Current professional players
PlayerGCU StartGCU EndPositionCurrent Organization
Cody Ransom199819983B, SSSaitama Seibu Lions
Jeff Urlaub20102010POakland Athletics
Brady Wager20102012PBaltimore Orioles

[3]

See also

References
  1. Spacing & Colors (PDF). Grand Canyon University Branding and Standards Guide. August 13, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  2. "Grand Canyon baseball wins its first WAC regular season title". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  3. http://www.gculopes.com/documents/2013/9/20/Antelopes_in_Postseason.pdf?id=3685
  4. "Arizona Local News - Phoenix Arizona News - Phoenix Breaking News". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  5. "GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY - Brazell Stadium". Gculopes.com. 1987-02-21. Retrieved 2015-07-12.
  6. Metcalfe, Jeff (May 18, 2015). "Grand Canyon baseball wins its first WAC regular season title". Arizona Central.


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