Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, March 31
Orem, Utah / UCCU Ballpark
11 a.m.
Grand Canyon
15-12, 4-2
14
at
4
Utah Valley
5-22, 2-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
10
14
13
0
Utah Valley
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
4
11
4
Photo by: Clark Clifford
Tie turned blowout secures sweep
3/31/2019 4:30:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes strike for 10 runs to break 9th-inning tie
OREM, Utah — Grand Canyon plated 10 runs in the ninth inning to defeat Utah Valley 14-4 and secure a series sweep on Sunday.
The Wolverines used a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to erase a GCU lead that had stood since the first inning.
Entering the ninth inning in a tie for just the second time this season, the Lopes quickly put the game out of reach with their second-biggest offensive inning of the season.
"To win three games on a weekend in baseball is not an easy task," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "On the road is especially good. I thought today we showed a little bit of resolve. We got off to a nice start and got some runs early, but their guy did a nice job of settling in and little bit. We didn't quite get the at bats we wanted in the middle innings. We just took a deep breath and said, 'OK, it's a tie game.' Now, we've just got to go back and do a better job from an offensive standpoint."
In a newly tied game, Lopes senior second baseman Austin Bull opened the ninth with a double to left field that was nearly gloved by the Wolverines left fielder. Senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Bull over to third, and an airmailed attempt to retire Winchester at first scored Bull and the go-ahead run.
The throwing error led to the wheels falling off for Utah Valley. GCU (15-12, 4-2 WAC) logged five more hits in the inning, walked three times and was hit by a pitch two more times.
Sophomore first baseman Cuba Bess broke the game open with a two-RBI double to right to make it 8-4. Senior center fielder Preston Pavlica hit an RBI single, and sophomore Brock Burton hit a pinch-hit triple to score two more.
"For Austin Bull to lead off the ninth there with a great two-strike line-drive base hit and the ball dropped near the left fielder, it was a huge play, a big momentum swing," Stankiewicz said. "Before you know it, we were able to string a series of good at bats together to jump out in front."
Bull singled on the first pitch of the game and scored on a double by senior right fielder Quin Cotton to put GCU up 1-0 four pitches into the game.
The Lopes tacked on two more in the second. Pavlica homered on the first pitch of the inning, and GCU snuck across its third run of the game on a double-steal with freshman catcher Seth Beckstead scoring.
GCU's lead was trimmed to two runs in the third inning and further trimmed to one run in the fourth.
The Lopes scored a single run in the eighth when senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt drew a leadoff walk and scored three wild pitches later.
Utah Valley sophomore first baseman Pacen Hayes came up with the game-tying homer with two away in the eighth, but the Lopes used the 10-run ninth to reclaim the lead and secure the sweep.
Lopes sophomore pitcher Jack Schneider allowed two runs over five innings of work and was in line for the win before the late home run. Sophomore Frankie Scalzo and senior Nick Ohanian were effective in relief with Ohanian picking up his third win of the season.
"It was a good weekend," Stankiewicz said. "Jack Schneider has come along really well. His pitch count is starting to build up a little bit. He's starting to be a nice weekend piece for us again. We'll certainly take winning it out."
On its way to a series sweep, GCU walked just three batters for the weekend.
"The walks thing is huge," Stankiewicz said. "Guys are committing to Strike 1 and doing a great job of making them put the ball in play. That's encouraging to only give up three walks on a weekend. That's a huge step forward for sure."
The Lopes hit .353 on the weekend and had no less than 13 hits in a game. Bull and Pavlica each had three hits to pace the Lopes offensively. Four individuals logged multi-RBI games.
GCU made it seven consecutive victories over Utah Valley (5-22, 2-4 WAC) dating back to 2017.
One week after losing their first WAC series since 2016, the Lopes are back atop the conference. GCU finds itself in a four-way tie for first place with New Mexico State — its next opponent — in addition to Sacramento State and UT Rio Grande Valley.
The Wolverines used a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to erase a GCU lead that had stood since the first inning.
Entering the ninth inning in a tie for just the second time this season, the Lopes quickly put the game out of reach with their second-biggest offensive inning of the season.
"To win three games on a weekend in baseball is not an easy task," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "On the road is especially good. I thought today we showed a little bit of resolve. We got off to a nice start and got some runs early, but their guy did a nice job of settling in and little bit. We didn't quite get the at bats we wanted in the middle innings. We just took a deep breath and said, 'OK, it's a tie game.' Now, we've just got to go back and do a better job from an offensive standpoint."
In a newly tied game, Lopes senior second baseman Austin Bull opened the ninth with a double to left field that was nearly gloved by the Wolverines left fielder. Senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Bull over to third, and an airmailed attempt to retire Winchester at first scored Bull and the go-ahead run.
The throwing error led to the wheels falling off for Utah Valley. GCU (15-12, 4-2 WAC) logged five more hits in the inning, walked three times and was hit by a pitch two more times.
Sophomore first baseman Cuba Bess broke the game open with a two-RBI double to right to make it 8-4. Senior center fielder Preston Pavlica hit an RBI single, and sophomore Brock Burton hit a pinch-hit triple to score two more.
"For Austin Bull to lead off the ninth there with a great two-strike line-drive base hit and the ball dropped near the left fielder, it was a huge play, a big momentum swing," Stankiewicz said. "Before you know it, we were able to string a series of good at bats together to jump out in front."
Bull singled on the first pitch of the game and scored on a double by senior right fielder Quin Cotton to put GCU up 1-0 four pitches into the game.
The Lopes tacked on two more in the second. Pavlica homered on the first pitch of the inning, and GCU snuck across its third run of the game on a double-steal with freshman catcher Seth Beckstead scoring.
GCU's lead was trimmed to two runs in the third inning and further trimmed to one run in the fourth.
The Lopes scored a single run in the eighth when senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt drew a leadoff walk and scored three wild pitches later.
Utah Valley sophomore first baseman Pacen Hayes came up with the game-tying homer with two away in the eighth, but the Lopes used the 10-run ninth to reclaim the lead and secure the sweep.
Lopes sophomore pitcher Jack Schneider allowed two runs over five innings of work and was in line for the win before the late home run. Sophomore Frankie Scalzo and senior Nick Ohanian were effective in relief with Ohanian picking up his third win of the season.
"It was a good weekend," Stankiewicz said. "Jack Schneider has come along really well. His pitch count is starting to build up a little bit. He's starting to be a nice weekend piece for us again. We'll certainly take winning it out."
On its way to a series sweep, GCU walked just three batters for the weekend.
"The walks thing is huge," Stankiewicz said. "Guys are committing to Strike 1 and doing a great job of making them put the ball in play. That's encouraging to only give up three walks on a weekend. That's a huge step forward for sure."
The Lopes hit .353 on the weekend and had no less than 13 hits in a game. Bull and Pavlica each had three hits to pace the Lopes offensively. Four individuals logged multi-RBI games.
GCU made it seven consecutive victories over Utah Valley (5-22, 2-4 WAC) dating back to 2017.
One week after losing their first WAC series since 2016, the Lopes are back atop the conference. GCU finds itself in a four-way tie for first place with New Mexico State — its next opponent — in addition to Sacramento State and UT Rio Grande Valley.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ohanian, Nick (3-1)
L: Schmit, Jesse (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Bull, Austin 1 ; Cotton, Quin 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1 ; Bess, Cuba 1
3B: Burton, Brock 1
HR: Pavlica, Preston 1
RBI: Bull, Austin 1 ; Burton, Brock 2 ; Cotton, Quin 1 ; Wyatt, Tyler 2 ; Bess, Cuba 2 ; Pavlica, Preston 2 ; Avitia, David 1
SH: Winchester, Pikai 2
SF: Bull, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bull, Austin 2 ; Weaver, Jonny 1 ; Burton, Brock 1 ; Cotton, Quin 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1 ; Wyatt, Tyler 2 ; Bess, Cuba 1 ; Pavlica, Preston 2 ; Mumper, Marc 1 ; Beckstead, Seth 1 ; Avitia, David 1
SB: Bull, Austin 1 ; Beckstead, Seth 1
HBP: Cotton, Quin 1 ; Wyatt, Tyler 2
PO: Wyatt, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Beltran, Michael 1 ; Sims, Drew 1
HR: Hayes, Pacen 1
RBI: Hayes, Pacen 3 ; Howell, Trevor 1
SF: Hayes, Pacen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Marco, Alexander 1 ; Sims, Drew 1 ; Madsen, Mick 1 ; Hayes, Pacen 1
SB: Howell, Trevor 1
HBP: Marco, Alexander 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
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INF
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UTIL
/ BaseballOF
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RHP
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RHP
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LHP
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INF
/ Baseball
UTIL
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