Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, February 23
Fort Worth, Texas / Lupton Stadium
2 p.m.
Grand Canyon
3-3
9
at
17
TCU
4-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
1
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
4
9
9
2
TCU
0
0
6
4
0
3
4
0
X
17
16
0
Photo by: Richard Rodriguez
Hot start pivots quickly
2/23/2019 5:43:00 PM | Baseball
Avitia's 1st career homer gives GCU early 5-0 lead
FORT WORTH, Texas — The Grand Canyon baseball team got off to a 5-0 start in pursuit of a series-clinching win on Saturday but allowed a string of unanswered runs in a 17-9 loss to No. 18 TCU.
Things started off on the right note for GCU, putting a run on the board three batters into the game. Junior right fielder Quin Cotton doubled on the second pitch of the game, moved to third on a single by senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester and scored on a fielder's choice by senior second baseman Austin Bull.
The Lopes extended their early lead in the third. After Bull and sophomore left fielder Cuba Bess opened the inning by drawing walks, junior first baseman Kona Quiggle drove in the Lopes' second run on a double to left. Sophomore catcher David Avitia hit his first career home run, a no-doubter far beyond the left field wall, to put GCU in front 5-0.
From that point, 16 consecutive GCU batters were retired as the tide of the game changed. No one reached for the Lopes until freshman infielder Jonny Weaver drew a walk to begin the ninth.
TCU responded to the Lopes' four-run third with a six-run home half. The Horned Frogs continued to tack on runs throughout the remainder of the game off five GCU pitchers.
The Lopes batted around and scored four runs in the ninth to narrow the final margin. Weaver started the frame with a walk, junior infielder Dane Stankiewicz singled and Winchester hit his second homer of the season, a three-run shot to straightaway center. Sophomore outfielder Brock Burton drove in the game's final run on a single through the left side.
The Horned Frogs hit five home runs on a blustery day at Lupton Stadium.
After GCU tagged TCU starter Jared Janczak for five quick runs and chased him from the game in the third, junior Jake Eissler tossed 5 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just one run and one hit.
Freshmen Michael Hansell and Dante DeNiro made their collegiate debuts for the Lopes.
Saturday's result sets up a Sunday rubber game between GCU and TCU with first pitch set for noon (Phoenix time).
Things started off on the right note for GCU, putting a run on the board three batters into the game. Junior right fielder Quin Cotton doubled on the second pitch of the game, moved to third on a single by senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester and scored on a fielder's choice by senior second baseman Austin Bull.
The Lopes extended their early lead in the third. After Bull and sophomore left fielder Cuba Bess opened the inning by drawing walks, junior first baseman Kona Quiggle drove in the Lopes' second run on a double to left. Sophomore catcher David Avitia hit his first career home run, a no-doubter far beyond the left field wall, to put GCU in front 5-0.
From that point, 16 consecutive GCU batters were retired as the tide of the game changed. No one reached for the Lopes until freshman infielder Jonny Weaver drew a walk to begin the ninth.
TCU responded to the Lopes' four-run third with a six-run home half. The Horned Frogs continued to tack on runs throughout the remainder of the game off five GCU pitchers.
The Lopes batted around and scored four runs in the ninth to narrow the final margin. Weaver started the frame with a walk, junior infielder Dane Stankiewicz singled and Winchester hit his second homer of the season, a three-run shot to straightaway center. Sophomore outfielder Brock Burton drove in the game's final run on a single through the left side.
The Horned Frogs hit five home runs on a blustery day at Lupton Stadium.
After GCU tagged TCU starter Jared Janczak for five quick runs and chased him from the game in the third, junior Jake Eissler tossed 5 2/3 innings of relief, allowing just one run and one hit.
Freshmen Michael Hansell and Dante DeNiro made their collegiate debuts for the Lopes.
Saturday's result sets up a Sunday rubber game between GCU and TCU with first pitch set for noon (Phoenix time).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eissler, Jake (2-0)
L: Ohl, Pierson (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Cotton, Quin 1 ; Bull, Austin 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1
HR: Winchester, Pikai 1 ; Avitia, David 1
RBI: Winchester, Pikai 3 ; Bull, Austin 1 ; Burton, Brock 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1 ; Avitia, David 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Cotton, Quin 1 ; Winchester, Pikai 1 ; Bull, Austin 2 ; Bess, Cuba 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1 ; Weaver, Jonny 1 ; Avitia, David 1 ; Stankiewicz, Dane 1
SB: Avitia, David 1
HBP: Cotton, Quin 1
Batting:
2B: Guenther, Jake 2
3B: Rizer, Johnny 1
HR: Henry, Austin 1 ; Humphreys, Zach 2 ; Rizer, Johnny 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 1
RBI: Henry, Austin 2 ; Guenther, Jake 4 ; Humphreys, Zach 5 ; Rizer, Johnny 3 ; Keefer, Andrew 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 1
SF: Keefer, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown, Porter 3 ; Watson, Josh 1 ; Henry, Austin 4 ; Guenther, Jake 2 ; Humphreys, Zach 3 ; Rizer, Johnny 2 ; Shepherd, Conner 1 ; Wolfe, Hunter 1
SB: Guenther, Jake 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 1
CS: Wolfe, Hunter 1
HBP: Henry, Austin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
UTIL
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
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