Wyatt's 5 RBIs pace GCU road win

Tuesday, May 14

Riverside, Calif. / Riverside Sports Complex

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

32-20

UC Riverside

17-32

Grand Canyon

UC Riverside

Photo by: Josh Hauser

5/14/2019 10:40:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Lopes defeat UC Riverside for 15th win in 17 tries

By: Josh Hauser

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — For the first time as a Division I program, the Grand Canyon baseball team is 12 games over the .500 mark.

GCU, now 15-2 since April 18, used five early RBIs from senior second baseman Tyler Wyatt for an early lead that it would not relinquish in a 10-7 win at UC Riverside on Tuesday night.

"We did a nice job of putting some good at bats together early in the game to get out in front," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "It was a good day. We had some guys pitching that haven't had as many innings as they like, but they had great opportunities. I'm pleased with our performance to get out here on the road and get a win against a Big West program."

To navigate the ballgame, the Lopes (32-20) used pitchers Dalton Chapman, Michael Perzan, Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis and Nick Ohanian. They successfully protected GCU's lead with Perzan picking up his first collegiate victory and Ohanian earning his fourth save of the year.

Perzan ran into trouble in the fifth inning with two runners in scoring position and nobody out for the Highlanders (17-32). The freshman left-hander promptly worked his way out of the inning with three consecutive strikeouts. He finished with four strikeouts in two scoreless innings.

"Chapman did a nice job as a starter," Stankiewicz said. "Perzan came in in a big situation and got some strikeouts. That was huge. Cooper-Vassalakis did a nice job of holding the fort down."

Ohanian entered a dicey situation in the eighth and surrendered an infield single that pulled the Highlanders within three. But when Ohanian returned to pitch the ninth, he faced the minimum and struck out the first two batters on seven combined pitches.

"That was the Ohanian we're going to need this weekend and in the (WAC) tournament," Stankiewicz said. "It was really encouraging to see the job he did tonight as well."

GCU led by as many as seven in the game, largely thanks to a five-run third and three-run fourth.

In the third, Wyatt cleared the bases with a two-out double to score three. Senior center fielder Preston Pavlica cleaned things up with his ninth home run of the season to put the Lopes in front 6-1.

In the fourth, junior right fielder Quin Cotton used his third hit of the evening to score the first run of the inning. Wyatt singled to right-center to score two more and give GCU its largest lead at 9-2.

Through four innings, Wyatt had his career-high with five RBIs after setting his previous career high with four RBIs on Sunday's grand slam.

UC Riverside scored five of the game's final six runs with a seventh-inning RBI single by sophomore Brock Burton accounting for the Lopes' last run. GCU's early lead held true despite the Highlanders' late offense.

The Lopes' pitching staff logged 12 strikeouts with Perzan and Cooper-Vassalakis each setting career highs with four apiece.

Cotton and Wyatt each had three hits to lead GCU offensively with Cotton hitting two doubles for the second straight game.

GCU matched its season high with four stolen bases.

Trailing WAC leader New Mexico State by one game, the Lopes head to Sacramento State for the final three games of the regular season. The series gets underway at 7 p.m. on Thursday.