Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball

Grand Canyon Antelopes
2016 Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball team
University Grand Canyon University
Conference Western Athletic Conference
Location Phoenix, AZ
Head coach Andy Stankiewicz (5th year)
Home stadium Brazell Stadium
(Capacity: 1,500)
Nickname Lopes
Colors Purple, White, and Black[1]
              
National Championships
1980, 1981, 1982, 1986 (NAIA)
Conference champions
1998, 2015[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 Nathan Choate, Gregg Wallis, and Ryan Cisterna. 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

Main article: Brazell Stadium
Baseball game, Gonzaga University at GCU, February 19, 2016

Brazell Stadium 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

Player GCU Start GCU End MLB teams MLB Start MLB End
Frank Snook 1969 1971 San Diego Padres 1973 1973
Tom Tellmann 1976 1976 San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics 1979 1985
Dave Stapleton 1982 1983 Milwaukee Brewers 1987 1988
Brad Moore 1986 1986 Philadelphia Phillies 1988 1990
Randy McCament 1984 1985 San Francisco Giants 1989 1990
Kevin Wickander 1984 1986 Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers 1989 1996
John Patterson 1987 1988 San Francisco Giants 1992 1995
Chad Curtis 1989 1989 Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers 1992 2001
Tim Salmon 1987 1989 Los Angeles Angels 1992 2006
Brett Merriman 1988 1988 Minnesota Twins 1993 1994
Paul Swingle 1989 1989 Los Angeles Angels 1993 1993
Steve Phoenix 1989 1990 Oakland Athletics 1994 1995
Cody Ransom 1998 1998 San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs 2001 2013
Brian Broderick 2007 2007 Washington Nationals 2011 2011

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

[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Brand Standards | Media & Branding | Grand Canyon University". Gcu.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  2. ↑ "Grand Canyon baseball wins its first WAC regular season title". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  3. 1 2 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.

External links

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