Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, April 29
Phoenix, Ariz.
12 p.m.
Grand Canyon
25-19, 12-3
8
vs
4
New Mexico State
28-16, 12-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
New Mexico State
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
4
12
2
Grand Canyon
2
0
1
0
2
2
0
1
X
8
16
1
Cotton swattin': 5 hits down NMSU
4/29/2018 4:33:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
Ethan Evanko stays strong, keeps GCU atop WAC
New Mexico State arrived at GCU Ballpark on Friday as the second-best hitting team in the nation.
Grand Canyon boasted the best hitter of the weekend to take the series and stay atop the Western Athletic Conference standings.
In GCU's two weekend wins against NMSU, Lopes sophomore Quin Cotton ripped as many extra-base hits as the entire Aggies lineup. Cotton went five for five Sunday, belting a 433-foot home run and three doubles during an 8-4 win.
"This is probably the best day I've ever had at the plate, honestly," Cotton said, factoring in any Colorado Little Leagues that he tortured.
Cotton, now hitting .370, picked up seven of his season's 20 extra-base hits this weekend and is 16 for 29 (.552) in the past seven games. His first multi-extra base hit game came two days earlier, when he doubled, tripled and homered Friday against NMSU.
Cotton pulled doubles and scored twice on his first two at bats Sunday, singled to the opposite field on his third at bat and nailed a two-RBI double to center for a 7-1 lead in the sixth inning.
"On that at bat, he was pretty comfortable throwing his slider so I was going to sit on one and see it up out of the hand," Cotton said.
On that next at bat, Cotton jumped on the first-pitch slider he was expecting and sent it toward the 35th Avenue palm trees for an 8-2 lead.
"You like to see that out of the big guy, using the middle of the field and elevating a little bit better," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "He's starting to put a plan together. In your youth, you go up there and think every pitch is going to be a fastball. He's starting to learn from previous at bats about how they're working him and then executing. His execution this weekend was really good."
Cotton was not alone on a 16-hit day, GCU's third-best hit total of the season.
Senior first baseman Ian Evans reached base four times (two hits, two walks) and knocked in two runs while freshman catcher David Avitia hit two singles for his third multi-hit game in his past nine starts.
Lopes senior lefthander Ethan Evanko's fourth consecutive stellar start made the offense worth it. Evanko allowed one run and struck out eight batters without a walk over six innings, giving him an earned run average of 1.57 in his past four starts – all Lopes wins.
"It's been really fun," Evanko said. "This is how I wanted my career to go. I had TJ (Tommy John surgery) last year so I wanted to come back and be a part of something special with us being eligible for the tournament."
Evanko used his mix of fastballs and sliders well again and stayed inside on Aggies batters, who crowded the plate.
"The one thing I like about Ethan, from a defensive standpoint, is that he works fast," Stankiewicz said. "He gets the ball and he goes. Typically, that means the defense is going to be on their toes and ready to play for you."
The GCU defense made one error and provided gems, highlighted by two plays from junior third baseman Zach Malis. He used his 6-foot-5 frame to leap high and grab a Tristen Carranza line drive in the second inning and bare-handed a Marcus Still hopper to throw him out at first base in the fourth inning.
"Those were unbelievable, especially the leaping one because that would've been a leadoff double in that inning," Evanko said. "That bare-handed play was probably the best play I've ever seen behind me. It was unreal."
The 2-1 series victory extended GCU's streak of WAC series wins to 14, the longest active streak in the nation. The Lopes have won 16 of their past 20 home games and ended NMSU's streak of eight consecutive WAC road series wins.
Sunday's victory kept the Lopes (12-3 in WAC) in front of Sacramento State (11-4), NMSU (12-6) and Seattle (10-5).
"We knew this is going to be a dogfight until the end," Stankiewicz said. "We've got a lot of work in front of us and we have to just keep grinding."
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Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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Grand Canyon boasted the best hitter of the weekend to take the series and stay atop the Western Athletic Conference standings.
In GCU's two weekend wins against NMSU, Lopes sophomore Quin Cotton ripped as many extra-base hits as the entire Aggies lineup. Cotton went five for five Sunday, belting a 433-foot home run and three doubles during an 8-4 win.
"This is probably the best day I've ever had at the plate, honestly," Cotton said, factoring in any Colorado Little Leagues that he tortured.
Cotton, now hitting .370, picked up seven of his season's 20 extra-base hits this weekend and is 16 for 29 (.552) in the past seven games. His first multi-extra base hit game came two days earlier, when he doubled, tripled and homered Friday against NMSU.
Cotton pulled doubles and scored twice on his first two at bats Sunday, singled to the opposite field on his third at bat and nailed a two-RBI double to center for a 7-1 lead in the sixth inning.
"On that at bat, he was pretty comfortable throwing his slider so I was going to sit on one and see it up out of the hand," Cotton said.
On that next at bat, Cotton jumped on the first-pitch slider he was expecting and sent it toward the 35th Avenue palm trees for an 8-2 lead.
"You like to see that out of the big guy, using the middle of the field and elevating a little bit better," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "He's starting to put a plan together. In your youth, you go up there and think every pitch is going to be a fastball. He's starting to learn from previous at bats about how they're working him and then executing. His execution this weekend was really good."
Cotton was not alone on a 16-hit day, GCU's third-best hit total of the season.
Senior first baseman Ian Evans reached base four times (two hits, two walks) and knocked in two runs while freshman catcher David Avitia hit two singles for his third multi-hit game in his past nine starts.
Lopes senior lefthander Ethan Evanko's fourth consecutive stellar start made the offense worth it. Evanko allowed one run and struck out eight batters without a walk over six innings, giving him an earned run average of 1.57 in his past four starts – all Lopes wins.
"It's been really fun," Evanko said. "This is how I wanted my career to go. I had TJ (Tommy John surgery) last year so I wanted to come back and be a part of something special with us being eligible for the tournament."
Evanko used his mix of fastballs and sliders well again and stayed inside on Aggies batters, who crowded the plate.
"The one thing I like about Ethan, from a defensive standpoint, is that he works fast," Stankiewicz said. "He gets the ball and he goes. Typically, that means the defense is going to be on their toes and ready to play for you."
The GCU defense made one error and provided gems, highlighted by two plays from junior third baseman Zach Malis. He used his 6-foot-5 frame to leap high and grab a Tristen Carranza line drive in the second inning and bare-handed a Marcus Still hopper to throw him out at first base in the fourth inning.
"Those were unbelievable, especially the leaping one because that would've been a leadoff double in that inning," Evanko said. "That bare-handed play was probably the best play I've ever seen behind me. It was unreal."
The 2-1 series victory extended GCU's streak of WAC series wins to 14, the longest active streak in the nation. The Lopes have won 16 of their past 20 home games and ended NMSU's streak of eight consecutive WAC road series wins.
Sunday's victory kept the Lopes (12-3 in WAC) in front of Sacramento State (11-4), NMSU (12-6) and Seattle (10-5).
"We knew this is going to be a dogfight until the end," Stankiewicz said. "We've got a lot of work in front of us and we have to just keep grinding."
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Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Evanko, Ethan (3-1)
L: Pinedo, Alex (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Henderson, Caleb 1 ; Gonzales, Nick 1
HR: Henderson, Caleb 1 ; Fishback, Mason 1
RBI: Henderson, Caleb 2 ; Carranza, Tristen 1 ; Fishback, Mason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stine, Trey 1 ; Henderson, Caleb 2 ; Fishback, Mason 1
Batting:
2B: Cotton, Quin 3 ; Evans, Ian 1
HR: Cotton, Quin 1
RBI: Cotton, Quin 3 ; Evans, Ian 2 ; Malis, Zach 1 ; Wyatt, Tyler 1
SH: Winchester, Pikai 1 ; Pavlica, Preston 1
SF: Wyatt, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cotton, Quin 4 ; Evans, Ian 1 ; Burton, Brock 1 ; Mumper, Marc 1 ; Stankiewicz, Dane 1
CS: Malis, Zach 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
4
H
5
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
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