PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon baseball team opened the 2016 season at home in front of a packed crowd of 1,493 fans on Friday night. It was a memorable night for the Lopes as they unveiled their 2015 Western Athletic Conference championship rings before taking down Gonzaga 7-1.
"I'm really proud of our defensive performance tonight," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "It was great to have guys from last year's team come back for the ring ceremony. It was a great way to start the season."
Redshirt senior Jorge Perez pitched 5.2 solid innings, keeping Gonzaga scoreless while limiting it to seven hits.
"It was awesome. I thank God that I'm able to go back out there," Perez said after sitting out last season with an injury. "Just being able to go back out there and pitch and put my part into it. Thank God I have a good defense back there so it makes my job easier."
Breaking a 1-1 tie, GCU tallied five runs in the seventh inning to break the game open. The top of the lineup got things started for the Lopes after Thomas Lerouge doubled. After a Paul Panaccione walk, Schwartz singled to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Greg Saenz drew a walk to put the Lopes in front 2-1. Following Saenz's RBI, Tyler Wyatt also drew a walk to score Panaccione. Krysthian Leal extended GCU's lead to 5-1 after a two-run RBI single. Mauseth brought in the final run of the frame with a double, allowing Wyatt to score, capping off a five-run inning to put GCU up 6-1.
GCU gets championship rings before the season opener. (Cameron Stow)"We were all looking forward to getting on the field and playing today," Leal said. "We put in a lot of hard work during the fall, getting the swings in every day."
Perez found himself in his first jam of the season with runners on first and third but he struck out Taylor Jones to prevent the Zags from scoring. Gonzaga almost jumped on the scoreboard in the fourth inning when Joey Harris doubled to right field. Garrison Schwartz, however, retrieved the ball, threw to second baseman Leal who relayed it home to catcher Zach Stierstorfer to prevent Justin Jacobs from scoring from first.
The Lopes also had their opportunities with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, but GU's Brandon Bailey struck out Ben Mauseth to keep the game scoreless. GCU jumped on the board in the fifth inning and it was led by the seniors. Preseason WAC Player of the Year Panaccione got things started with the first double of the season and after advancing on a wild pitch to third base, his fellow senior, Brandon Smith, drove in Panaccione to give GCU the 1-0 lead.
Gonzaga looked to even the score in the following inning by loading the bases. With two outs and the bases loaded, Travis Garcia-Perreira came in for relief and the senior came up clutch by striking out Harris to leave three runners stranded. The Zags evened the score in the seventh inning off a home run by Sam Brown.
Grand Canyon added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Smith doubled down the left field line – his third hit of the night – scoring Schwartz from first.
The Lopes return to the diamond for a pair of ballgames Saturday vs. Gonzaga. In Game 1, sophomore Ethan Evanko will climb the hill for the Lopes, set to face sophomore Calvin LeBrun of Gonzaga in a dual of left-handers. The nightcap will see sophomore Jake Repavich get the nod for GCU, facing sophomore Eli Morgan of the Bulldogs. First pitch for Game 1 is set for noon MT.
