GCU gets record 33rd win, outright championship

Saturday, May 19

Bellevue, Wash.

9 a.m.

Grand Canyon

33-22, 19-5

Seattle U

32-21, 13-11

Grand Canyon

Seattle University

Photo by: Charis Wilson

5/19/2018 1:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Wyatt caps regular season with 5-for-5 day

By: Josh Hauser

BELLEVUE, Wash. - For the first time in the Grand Canyon baseball program's 13 Division I seasons, the Lopes logged their 33rd win of the season. That 33rd win helped ensure that GCU would not have to share the 2018 Western Athletic Conference regular season title.

"The past four years we've gone home. Now we get a chance to keep playing," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "That's a cool thing."

Seattle U made the Lopes fight for the win down the stretch, turning a 6-1 game into a 6-5 game after a three-run seventh inning. GCU held off the Redhawks rally including adding an insurance run in the ninth.

"These last two games have been really good games," Stankiewicz said. "We have to get comfortable in a tough environment. That's what the tournament is going to be. It's going to be a bunch of dog fights. It was good to get the adrenaline flowing in that tight ballgame."

In his final regular season start, lefty Ethan Evanko improved to 5-1 after limiting the Redhawks to one run over five innings with four strikeouts.

GCU put a run on the board in the opening inning for the fourth consecutive game. Quin Cotton drew a walk and advanced to third on a Pikai Winchester single. Cotton snuck home safely on a ground ball before the third out of the inning was recorded.

Cotton got the action going again in the third with a one-out single. The sophomore stole second, went to third on a grounder, and scored on a two-out RBI single by Ian Evans.

"This weekend we had a lot of two-out base hits. Those are great at bats," Stankiewicz said. "Don't do too much, use the middle of the field. That proved to be the difference. I'm really pleased with the approach offensively."

The Lopes extended their 2-0 lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning. GCU had five hits in the frame including RBI hits by Evans, Zach Malis and Preston Pavlica.

Malis drove in another run in the sixth to counter Seattle U's first run of the game.

After GCU's lead was trimmed to one by the eighth inning, the Lopes came up with an insurance run in the ninth. Tyler Wyatt had a two-out single for his fifth hit of the day to make it a 7-5 lead.

"He's starting to use the middle of the field better," Stankiewicz said. "He saw the success today and knows he can stay there. RBIs are in the middle of the diamond. It was a good approach by him. He's gotten better."

Mick Vorhof picked up the save for the second straight day, once again retiring the Redhawks in order.

Wyatt joins Cotton in the exclusive 5-for-5 club. Cotton has two 5-for-5 games this year while Wyatt logged his first.

The Lopes are set to open their participation in the WAC Tournament on Thursday, May 24 at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. GCU, as the No. 1 seed, will take on the lowest seed among first-round winners. The Lopes will pair up against Seattle U, Northern Colorado or CSU Bakersfield.