Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, May 25
Mesa, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
36-23
3
vs
4
Sacramento State
38-23
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
12
0
Sacramento State
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
6
0
Lopes sent to WAC title game
5/25/2019 7:48:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
GCU's 1st loss sets up Sunday showdown vs. Sac State
MESA, Ariz. — Grand Canyon gathered on the Hohokam Stadium field and broke to a cheer because the Lopes will be playing in a WAC Baseball Tournament championship game on Sunday.
The moment followed an 11-inning loss to Sacramento State in a game that could have ended the tournament with a GCU win. Instead, the 4-3 loss did not dilute the Lopes' title-game opportunity when they and the Hornets return at noon Sunday to decide who will dogpile on the Hohokam field and head to the NCAA tournament.
"This is like a Game 7," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "This is it. It's a chance to do something pretty special. I want our guys to be excited about that opportunity. Sure, it (the loss) is discouraging but now it's time to move past that moment and get excited what's in front of them."
GCU (36-23) has won 16 of its past 19 games against conference teams but the three losses were all one-run decisions to Sacramento State (38-23). The Hornets opened the tournament with a loss but have rallied through the loser's bracket with five consecutive wins in which its pitching staff has posted a 2.63 ERA.
Lopes pitching has been even better with a 1.93 ERA in the tournament, which is setting up both teams to pool bullpen efforts on Sunday. GCU relievers were brilliant again Saturday night with sophomore Zach Barnes throwing 2 2/3 shutout innings and sophomore Frankie Scalzo having three shutout innings until he surrendered his first hit, a game-winning, one-out double by Dylan McPhillips after a hit batsman.
Barnes, a Chandler (Ariz.) High product, struck out four Hornets batters in his sixth consecutive shutout appearance.
"It's a huge part, having confidence running into this thing and just having confidence in all my pitches now," Barnes said. "I'm just more focused on attacking hitters with my fastball and getting ahead early and working my off-speed pitches from there."
GCU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a rally that started with a double by junior left fielder Kona Quiggle, the first of two Lopes doubles that put GCU second in the nation for doubles (148). Senior second baseman Austin Bull, continuing his tourney-long hot hitting, sent Quiggle home on a single through the middle for a 1-0 lead. Freshman shortstop Johnny Weaver extended the lead to 2-0 with a two-out single, also through the middle.
Weaver, who moved into a starting role at midseason, is 7 for 16 in the past three games.
"We're in a great position," Weaver said. "I think I can speak for the whole team that we're excited for tomorrow. We're ready to go out there and play for each other. We're built for this. We're ready for tomorrow."
Lopes sophomore pitcher Nick Hull, making his first start since five shutout innings at Nevada on March 27, kept the lead for four innings with the only damage coming on a third-inning, two-out solo home run by Hornets catcher Dawsen Bacho.
GCU senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt stretched his team's lead to 3-1 with a first-pitch single that scored junior right fielder Quin Cotton, who had led off the inning with an infield single and then moved to second on a fielder's choice and third on a stolen base.
After two Hornets reached base on four-ball walks in the bottom of the fifth, Bacho got to Hull again with a two-run, two-out double that tied the game at 3-3.
That is when each team's relievers began a late-night scoreless duel that continued until the late-game dramatics. Sacramento State put the potential winning run on second with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning via a walk and a sacrifice bunt but Scalzo escaped with a strikeout and pop-up.
The GCU hitters did not respond with 12 consecutive hitters being retired until they put two men on base in the 10th and 11th innings.
"They can pitch," Stankiewicz said of Sacramento State pitchers. "They did a good job of making some pitches when they had to. In those big moments, sometimes instead of taking what the game gives you, they (Lopes hitters) want to (come through) so bad that they come out of the zone and don't get a good swing off. But that's part of it. It's a growing deal. The thing about it is we get to come back tomorrow."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
The moment followed an 11-inning loss to Sacramento State in a game that could have ended the tournament with a GCU win. Instead, the 4-3 loss did not dilute the Lopes' title-game opportunity when they and the Hornets return at noon Sunday to decide who will dogpile on the Hohokam field and head to the NCAA tournament.
"This is like a Game 7," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "This is it. It's a chance to do something pretty special. I want our guys to be excited about that opportunity. Sure, it (the loss) is discouraging but now it's time to move past that moment and get excited what's in front of them."
GCU (36-23) has won 16 of its past 19 games against conference teams but the three losses were all one-run decisions to Sacramento State (38-23). The Hornets opened the tournament with a loss but have rallied through the loser's bracket with five consecutive wins in which its pitching staff has posted a 2.63 ERA.
Lopes pitching has been even better with a 1.93 ERA in the tournament, which is setting up both teams to pool bullpen efforts on Sunday. GCU relievers were brilliant again Saturday night with sophomore Zach Barnes throwing 2 2/3 shutout innings and sophomore Frankie Scalzo having three shutout innings until he surrendered his first hit, a game-winning, one-out double by Dylan McPhillips after a hit batsman.
Barnes, a Chandler (Ariz.) High product, struck out four Hornets batters in his sixth consecutive shutout appearance.
"It's a huge part, having confidence running into this thing and just having confidence in all my pitches now," Barnes said. "I'm just more focused on attacking hitters with my fastball and getting ahead early and working my off-speed pitches from there."
GCU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a rally that started with a double by junior left fielder Kona Quiggle, the first of two Lopes doubles that put GCU second in the nation for doubles (148). Senior second baseman Austin Bull, continuing his tourney-long hot hitting, sent Quiggle home on a single through the middle for a 1-0 lead. Freshman shortstop Johnny Weaver extended the lead to 2-0 with a two-out single, also through the middle.
Weaver, who moved into a starting role at midseason, is 7 for 16 in the past three games.
"We're in a great position," Weaver said. "I think I can speak for the whole team that we're excited for tomorrow. We're ready to go out there and play for each other. We're built for this. We're ready for tomorrow."
Lopes sophomore pitcher Nick Hull, making his first start since five shutout innings at Nevada on March 27, kept the lead for four innings with the only damage coming on a third-inning, two-out solo home run by Hornets catcher Dawsen Bacho.
GCU senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt stretched his team's lead to 3-1 with a first-pitch single that scored junior right fielder Quin Cotton, who had led off the inning with an infield single and then moved to second on a fielder's choice and third on a stolen base.
After two Hornets reached base on four-ball walks in the bottom of the fifth, Bacho got to Hull again with a two-run, two-out double that tied the game at 3-3.
That is when each team's relievers began a late-night scoreless duel that continued until the late-game dramatics. Sacramento State put the potential winning run on second with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning via a walk and a sacrifice bunt but Scalzo escaped with a strikeout and pop-up.
The GCU hitters did not respond with 12 consecutive hitters being retired until they put two men on base in the 10th and 11th innings.
"They can pitch," Stankiewicz said of Sacramento State pitchers. "They did a good job of making some pitches when they had to. In those big moments, sometimes instead of taking what the game gives you, they (Lopes hitters) want to (come through) so bad that they come out of the zone and don't get a good swing off. But that's part of it. It's a growing deal. The thing about it is we get to come back tomorrow."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Martizia, Travis (4-1)
L: Scalzo, Frankie (4-6)
Batting:
2B: Quiggle, Kona 1 ; Bull, Austin 1
RBI: Weaver, Jonny 1 ; Wyatt, Tyler 1 ; Bull, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cotton, Quin 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1 ; Bull, Austin 1
SB: Weaver, Jonny 1 ; Cotton, Quin 1 ; Bull, Austin 1
CS: Wyatt, Tyler 1
HBP: Bess, Cuba 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1
PO: Wyatt, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Bacho, Dawsen 1 ; McPhillips, Dylan 1
HR: Bacho, Dawsen 1
RBI: Bacho, Dawsen 3 ; McPhillips, Dylan 1
SH: McCormick, Griffin 1 ; Doyle, Trevor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Matt 1 ; Bacho, Dawsen 1 ; Walstad, Ryan 1 ; Doyle, Trevor 1
CS: Walstad, Ryan 1
HBP: Walstad, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
6
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballUTIL
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