Completed Event: Baseball versus San Diego State on March 28, 2026 , Loss , 11, to, 12
Baseball
vs San Diego State
L 11-12
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, May 5
Phoenix, Ariz.
12 p.m.
Grand Canyon
28-19, 14-7
6
vs
3
CSU Bakersfield
19-30, 7-14
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
CSU Bakersfield
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
0
3
6
1
Grand Canyon
0
0
0
6
0
0
0
0
X
6
11
0
Another sweep closes WAC gap
5/5/2019 4:19:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
Cotton hits twice in 6-run inning; pitching tames Bakersfield
The calendar only has advanced by three weeks since a six-game losing streak but Grand Canyon has come so much farther.
Coming off back-to-back regular-season WAC championships, a series of tight losses put GCU at 5-7 in the WAC but the Lopes never flinched. They finished off their third consecutive WAC sweep Sunday, putting GCU one game behind a three-way tie for first place.
Sunday's 6-3 win against CSU Bakersfield at GCU Ballpark was a continuation of consistently good starts from a pitching rotation that was completely overhauled from last season. Freshman Pierson Ohl, junior Kade Mechals and sophomore Jack Schneider have posted a 1.82 ERA during the Lopes' first nine-game conference winning streak since returning to Division I in 2014.
Schneider gave GCU (28-19, 14-7 WAC) his fourth consecutive six-inning quality start Sunday and received all the backing he needed when the Lopes batted around in a six-run fourth inning. The combination of steady pitching and surging offense puts GCU one game behind leaders UT Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico State and Sacramento State with six conference games remaining for each.
"There's no panic here," said GCU junior right fielder Quin Cotton, who started the fourth-inning rally with a first-pitch home run. "We believe in ourselves. Our coaches believe in us. We believe in them. They have a plan. We just had to stay consistent. Teams lose games but we've been playing good baseball again. Some people were trying to count us out but we kept betting ourselves and kept believing ourselves."
In each series game, CSU Bakersfield took a 2-0 lead only to give up the lead in the bottom of the inning each time. The Lopes chased the Roadrunners starting pitchers (cumulative 16.20 ERA) early in each game and hit .378 for the series.
"We have a little bit of a different look than we had earlier in the year," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "Sometimes, it takes time to see how it all unfolds and try to put the pieces together to have success. We feel like we're moving in the right direction."
The renewed balance in the offensive lineup showed in the fourth inning, when the Lopes pounded out seven hits with two coming from Cotton. Sophomore catcher David Avitia kept his power surge going, following Saturday's home run with a double to the warning track.
Cotton knocked in three runs in the inning, starting with his fourth home run of the season on a 410-foot shot. He just missed on a deep flyout in his first at bat and had picked up CSUB's pitching plan for him.
"I just had to be ready to go," Cotton said after his team-leading 20th multi-hit game. "I didn't want to wait around. I've found some barrels but none of them found any grass and hit some trappers that found holes. It was nice to finally barrel one up and have something to show for it this time."
Sophomore Brock Burton made a brilliant diving catch in left field and now has collected two hits in each of his past three starts, raising his batting average by .048 in the past three weeks.
As a whole, GCU has played well defensively with Sunday being its seventh error-less game in the past 11 games, a stretch with only four errors total. That backs up the pitching, which included another outstanding relief effort from sophomore Frankie Scalzo on Sunday. He allowed one hit in three shutout innings, putting his ERA at 1.50 over his past seven appearances.
"They're pounding the zone," Stankiewicz said of the pitching staff. "I really believe that when pitchers get on the mound and have a good tempo and get to the plate and get the ball back, it helps our defense."
GCU next plays Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton and returns home next weekend to test its nine-game WAC winning streak against Northern Colorado. The Lopes get a chance to make up ground on Sacramento State when they end the regular season there May 16-18 but will need help from opponents to catch UTRGV (at CSUB and vs. Utah Valley) or New Mexico State (at Seattle and vs. California Baptist).
"Wherever we end up, we just need to get in that tournament," Cotton said. "All we need is an opportunity."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Coming off back-to-back regular-season WAC championships, a series of tight losses put GCU at 5-7 in the WAC but the Lopes never flinched. They finished off their third consecutive WAC sweep Sunday, putting GCU one game behind a three-way tie for first place.
Sunday's 6-3 win against CSU Bakersfield at GCU Ballpark was a continuation of consistently good starts from a pitching rotation that was completely overhauled from last season. Freshman Pierson Ohl, junior Kade Mechals and sophomore Jack Schneider have posted a 1.82 ERA during the Lopes' first nine-game conference winning streak since returning to Division I in 2014.
Schneider gave GCU (28-19, 14-7 WAC) his fourth consecutive six-inning quality start Sunday and received all the backing he needed when the Lopes batted around in a six-run fourth inning. The combination of steady pitching and surging offense puts GCU one game behind leaders UT Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico State and Sacramento State with six conference games remaining for each.
"There's no panic here," said GCU junior right fielder Quin Cotton, who started the fourth-inning rally with a first-pitch home run. "We believe in ourselves. Our coaches believe in us. We believe in them. They have a plan. We just had to stay consistent. Teams lose games but we've been playing good baseball again. Some people were trying to count us out but we kept betting ourselves and kept believing ourselves."
In each series game, CSU Bakersfield took a 2-0 lead only to give up the lead in the bottom of the inning each time. The Lopes chased the Roadrunners starting pitchers (cumulative 16.20 ERA) early in each game and hit .378 for the series.
"We have a little bit of a different look than we had earlier in the year," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "Sometimes, it takes time to see how it all unfolds and try to put the pieces together to have success. We feel like we're moving in the right direction."
The renewed balance in the offensive lineup showed in the fourth inning, when the Lopes pounded out seven hits with two coming from Cotton. Sophomore catcher David Avitia kept his power surge going, following Saturday's home run with a double to the warning track.
Cotton knocked in three runs in the inning, starting with his fourth home run of the season on a 410-foot shot. He just missed on a deep flyout in his first at bat and had picked up CSUB's pitching plan for him.
"I just had to be ready to go," Cotton said after his team-leading 20th multi-hit game. "I didn't want to wait around. I've found some barrels but none of them found any grass and hit some trappers that found holes. It was nice to finally barrel one up and have something to show for it this time."
Sophomore Brock Burton made a brilliant diving catch in left field and now has collected two hits in each of his past three starts, raising his batting average by .048 in the past three weeks.
As a whole, GCU has played well defensively with Sunday being its seventh error-less game in the past 11 games, a stretch with only four errors total. That backs up the pitching, which included another outstanding relief effort from sophomore Frankie Scalzo on Sunday. He allowed one hit in three shutout innings, putting his ERA at 1.50 over his past seven appearances.
"They're pounding the zone," Stankiewicz said of the pitching staff. "I really believe that when pitchers get on the mound and have a good tempo and get to the plate and get the ball back, it helps our defense."
GCU next plays Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton and returns home next weekend to test its nine-game WAC winning streak against Northern Colorado. The Lopes get a chance to make up ground on Sacramento State when they end the regular season there May 16-18 but will need help from opponents to catch UTRGV (at CSUB and vs. Utah Valley) or New Mexico State (at Seattle and vs. California Baptist).
"Wherever we end up, we just need to get in that tournament," Cotton said. "All we need is an opportunity."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schneider, Jack (2-1)
L: Skuija, Ethan (2-7)
S: Scalzo, Frankie (3)
Batting:
RBI: Rowley, Jesse 1 ; Koch, Ryan 2
SH: Ortega, Jake 1
SF: Koch, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Barba, Noah 1 ; Oliver, Jassen 1 ; Ortega, Jake 1
CS: Rowley, Jesse 1
PO: Rowley, Jesse 1
Batting:
2B: Burton, Brock 1 ; Avitia, David 1
HR: Cotton, Quin 1
RBI: Cotton, Quin 3 ; Bess, Cuba 1 ; Burton, Brock 1 ; Avitia, David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Weaver, Jonny 1 ; Cotton, Quin 1 ; Quiggle, Kona 1 ; Bess, Cuba 1 ; Burton, Brock 1 ; Avitia, David 1
CS: Cotton, Quin 1
HBP: Wyatt, Tyler 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
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