Upcoming Event: Baseball versus MLB Desert Invitational on February 13, 2026
Baseball
vs MLB Desert Invitational
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, March 10
Phoenix, Ariz.
12 p.m.
Grand Canyon
6-9
2
vs
9
Illinois
10-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Illinois
0
0
1
3
3
1
0
1
0
9
16
1
Grand Canyon
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
7
1
Photo by: Takashi Sato
GCU falls to Illini in finale
3/10/2019 4:10:00 PM | Baseball
Burton's doubles highlight Lopes' offense
Grand Canyon sophomore outfielder Brock Burton doubled twice and drove in a run, but the Lopes fell to Illinois 9-2 in the series finale on Sunday at GCU Ballpark.
Burton's doubles represented just two of his four hard-hit balls with the others being long fly ball outs at the base of the outfield wall. The Phoenix native logged his second multi-hit game of the week after collecting three hits and a walk-off single on Wednesday.
After a pair of scoreless innings by both squads, the Illini jumped out to a big lead with four consecutive run-scoring innings. Illinois scored the game's first run on a solo homer by designated hitter Michael Massey before posting back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth.
The Lopes picked up their first run in the sixth when senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt singled to the left-center wall. He was eventually ruled out for passing senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester at first base while a determination was being made of whether the ball had been caught.
An inning later, GCU picked up another run when one of Burton's doubles was followed up with an RBI single by senior shortstop Marc Mumper.
Lopes pitchers Michael Hansell and Dalton Chapman each contributed a scoreless inning of relief and retired the batters they faced in order. Hansell, a freshman making his second appearance, drew three consecutive ground balls in the seventh. Chapman closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts and a little help from Burton, who threw out a runner trying to stretch a single into a double.
Joining Burton with a two-hit game was Winchester, who bumped his team-leading average to .351 on the year.
The Illini matched a GCU opponent high with 16 hits on the afternoon.
In being swept at home, the Lopes experienced something that has only happened one other time since their return to Division I in 2014. GCU lost three games to New Mexico State, each by one run, in an April 8-11 series in 2016.
GCU will look to bounce back when it hosts Xavier for a four-game series that is set to begin on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at GCU Ballpark.
Burton's doubles represented just two of his four hard-hit balls with the others being long fly ball outs at the base of the outfield wall. The Phoenix native logged his second multi-hit game of the week after collecting three hits and a walk-off single on Wednesday.
After a pair of scoreless innings by both squads, the Illini jumped out to a big lead with four consecutive run-scoring innings. Illinois scored the game's first run on a solo homer by designated hitter Michael Massey before posting back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth.
The Lopes picked up their first run in the sixth when senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt singled to the left-center wall. He was eventually ruled out for passing senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester at first base while a determination was being made of whether the ball had been caught.
An inning later, GCU picked up another run when one of Burton's doubles was followed up with an RBI single by senior shortstop Marc Mumper.
Lopes pitchers Michael Hansell and Dalton Chapman each contributed a scoreless inning of relief and retired the batters they faced in order. Hansell, a freshman making his second appearance, drew three consecutive ground balls in the seventh. Chapman closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts and a little help from Burton, who threw out a runner trying to stretch a single into a double.
Joining Burton with a two-hit game was Winchester, who bumped his team-leading average to .351 on the year.
The Illini matched a GCU opponent high with 16 hits on the afternoon.
In being swept at home, the Lopes experienced something that has only happened one other time since their return to Division I in 2014. GCU lost three games to New Mexico State, each by one run, in an April 8-11 series in 2016.
GCU will look to bounce back when it hosts Xavier for a four-game series that is set to begin on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at GCU Ballpark.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Watson, Cyrillo (2-0)
L: Scalzo, Frankie (0-4)
Batting:
2B: Troike, Ben 1 ; Comia, Branden 1 ; Taylor, Zac 1
3B: Taylor, Zac 1
HR: Massey, Michael 1
RBI: Troike, Ben 2 ; Comia, Branden 1 ; Massey, Michael 1 ; Sarver, Kellen 2 ; Yalowitz, Jack 1 ; Michalak, Michael 1 ; Campbell, Jacob 1
SH: McDonald, Cam 1 ; Yalowitz, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Troike, Ben 2 ; Massey, Michael 1 ; Taylor, Zac 2 ; McDonald, Cam 2 ; Yalowitz, Jack 1 ; Campbell, Jacob 1
HBP: Dyke, Andrew 1 ; McDonald, Cam 1 ; Campbell, Jacob 1
Batting:
2B: Burton, Brock 2
RBI: Wyatt, Tyler 1 ; Mumper, Marc 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cotton, Quin 1 ; Burton, Brock 1
CS: Cotton, Quin 1 ; Winchester, Pikai 1
HBP: Cotton, Quin 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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