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 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
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
[3]
See also
References
External links
2016 Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball team
