They made history last season when they won two NCAA Tournament games. But after falling to West Virginia in the Tucson regional final, the Grand Canyon Antelopes are hungry to go a step or two further in what is expected to be their final baseball season in the Western Athletic Conference. They want to get to a Super Regional, then the College World Series in Omaha. Why not? "We've got a lot of momentum coming from that," said third baseman Eli Paton, a big part of last year's historic season. "We can build off of that." A confident GCU bunch opens the season Friday at 6 p.m. at home, where a sellout crowd is expected for the Lopes against SEC power No. 16-ranked Vanderbilt. The game is part of the MLB Desert Invitational. The game is being televised nationally on the MLB Network. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. They return four big bats in a lineup that stunned host Arizona in the first round of the Tucson Regional. UA was eliminated the next day. The Lopes eliminated No. 2-seed Dallas Baptist, before losing to No. 3 West Virginia for the second time, 10-6. They'll miss WAC Player of the Year Tyler Wilson and his team-best 17 home runs, but the Lopes return first baseman Zach Yorke, center fielder Eddy Pelc, Paton, and shortstop Emilio Barreras from last year's starting lineup. Outfielder Michael Diaz, who experienced the regional, also returns from a 36-25 team with a good amount of experience. They won't have the services of pitcher Grant Richardson after he underwent Tommy John surgery. But they return Isaac Lyon, who led the Lopes on the mound with a 6-1 record and 3.97 ERA last year. They also return right-hander Connor Mattison, who should be improved after registering a 6-5 record with a 5.67 ERA as a freshman. Mattison led the staff with 80 strikeouts, one more than Lyon. Sophomore RHP Garrett Ahern emerged in the fall as a potential weekend starter. Junior RHP Walter Quinn is back as the anchor, in the bullpen. Chance Key, a left-hander, has a chance to be a key starter after he went 11-1 last year at Des Moines Area Community College. Freshman pitchers Billy Gregory of 4A state champion Scottsdale Saguaro, Gunnar Penzkover of Phoenix Northwest Christian, and Ross Clark of Orange Lutheran (California) have a chance to contribute. "Good players want to come to a program that they feel can win a regional," said GCU coach Gregg Wallis, who is in his 12th year in the program and third as head coach. "We kind of showed it, that we can compete in a regional. "More so on the team side, I feel like we rolled right over from that regional. I don't know how we come out and compete this weekend, but I do feel like we accomplished a lot this fall and January and picked up where we left off. We came really close getting to that next level. Now it's, 'What do we need to do to improve on it?' The guys are on board. Most of them went through it. They've worked hard." Yorke received preseason All-American honors by Baseball American after hitting 11 home runs, second behind Wilson on the team, and drove in 50 runs. In the Tucson Regional, the 6-foot-2, 295-pound Yorke, a junior, hit .421 (8 for 19) and five RBIs. He had a three-hit game in his final game of the regional against West Virginia on June 2. "We kind of know what the lineup is going to be on Friday and this is one of the deeper ones we've had since I've been here," Yorke said. "I feel good. I'm confident in this squad we have this year and the coaching staff. We're ready to go." Pelc made a big impact in his first season at GCU last year, hitting .352 with 69 hits, 15 doubles, and 50 RBIs. He made the all-regional team in Tucson, after recording four multi-hit games and going 9 for 13 with seven RBIs. Wilson led the Lopes with 17 homers last year, but Pelc believes the Lopes will be able to make up what they'll miss from .378-hitting Wilson, who has been around GCU this winter working out as he gets ready for spring training. "I think the power of the group is always going to be greater than the power of a few," Pelc said. "Tyler is an amazing player, an amazing man. He's still here all the time, so he's still impacting our program in different ways. "I don't know who it's going to be this year, but someone is going to step up. We just don't know who it is yet."
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