Upcoming Event: Baseball versus MLB Desert Invitational on February 13, 2026
Baseball
vs MLB Desert Invitational
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, March 10
Fayetteville, Ark.
4:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
9-8
1
at
6
Arkansas
10-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
8
1
Arkansas
0
4
0
1
1
0
0
0
X
6
12
0
Photo by: Rhett Hutchins
GCU falls in opener at Arkansas
3/10/2020 9:00:00 PM | Baseball
Avitia homers; Cooper-Vassalakis throws 5 innings in relief
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A five-game road trip for the Grand Canyon baseball team started with a 6-1 loss to the No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday at Baum-Walker Stadium.
GCU catcher David Avitia provided the offense for the Lopes (9-8) with his first home run of the season in the third inning. Right-handed pitcher Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis threw five innings of one-run ball in relief.
The Razorbacks (10-5) came into the game ranked in the top-20 nationally in batting average, slugging percentage and home runs. GCU was able to hold off the extra-base hits by surrendering only 12 singles.
Lopes freshman lefty Cal Lambert was given the ball in his second career start, giving up 10 hits in three innings but also recording six strikeouts, a new career high.
After Arkansas put up a four spot in the third inning, GCU catcher David Avitia responded with his first home run of the season in the top of the fourth. The junior turned on an 82 MPH hanging breaking ball on a 3-1 count and hit it deep to left field and into the bleachers over the Arkansas bullpen.
After Lambert was pulled in the fourth, Cooper-Vassalakis provided five innings of strong relief that will give the Lopes more options heading into the back half of their final two-game midweek series of the season.
"He's (Cooper-Vassalakis) done that since Day 1," Stankiewicz said. "With an outing like that, he's telling us he wants the ball more often. I'm certainly encouraged by what he did. He attacked the strike zone with his fastball, his slider was working down in the zone. That's a good hitting ballclub. They are batting over .300 as a team and you see why. They have a nice approach at the plate. For Brodie to come in and do that type of a job against that type of ballclub is encouraging."
The sophomore from Canberra, Australia, became the first GCU pitcher since Frankie Scalzo last season to throw five innings out of the bullpen. Scalzo threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings against Utah on March 18 and earned the win.
Cooper-Vassalakis allowed just two hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts — a new career high — in an outing that included a four-pitch seventh inning. His ERA dropped to 1.23 on the year with 14 2/3 innings pitched and 18 strikeouts.
Hitting cleanup in his first start of the season, GCU first baseman Cuba Bess collected a pair of singles while designated hitter Dominic Grissom had a two-hit game as well. The Lopes had eight hits.
"I thought we hit some balls hard, they just did a good job of keeping us off balance," Staniewicz said. "That's part of our development. Our goal is to come play the Arkansas, the Baylors, the Stanfords. We want to get better. I thought we did fine, they just did a better job than we did tonight."
The Lopes will look for a series split on Wednesday against Arkansas with a 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) first pitch.
GCU catcher David Avitia provided the offense for the Lopes (9-8) with his first home run of the season in the third inning. Right-handed pitcher Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis threw five innings of one-run ball in relief.
The Razorbacks (10-5) came into the game ranked in the top-20 nationally in batting average, slugging percentage and home runs. GCU was able to hold off the extra-base hits by surrendering only 12 singles.
Lopes freshman lefty Cal Lambert was given the ball in his second career start, giving up 10 hits in three innings but also recording six strikeouts, a new career high.
After Arkansas put up a four spot in the third inning, GCU catcher David Avitia responded with his first home run of the season in the top of the fourth. The junior turned on an 82 MPH hanging breaking ball on a 3-1 count and hit it deep to left field and into the bleachers over the Arkansas bullpen.
After Lambert was pulled in the fourth, Cooper-Vassalakis provided five innings of strong relief that will give the Lopes more options heading into the back half of their final two-game midweek series of the season.
"He's (Cooper-Vassalakis) done that since Day 1," Stankiewicz said. "With an outing like that, he's telling us he wants the ball more often. I'm certainly encouraged by what he did. He attacked the strike zone with his fastball, his slider was working down in the zone. That's a good hitting ballclub. They are batting over .300 as a team and you see why. They have a nice approach at the plate. For Brodie to come in and do that type of a job against that type of ballclub is encouraging."
The sophomore from Canberra, Australia, became the first GCU pitcher since Frankie Scalzo last season to throw five innings out of the bullpen. Scalzo threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings against Utah on March 18 and earned the win.
Cooper-Vassalakis allowed just two hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts — a new career high — in an outing that included a four-pitch seventh inning. His ERA dropped to 1.23 on the year with 14 2/3 innings pitched and 18 strikeouts.
Hitting cleanup in his first start of the season, GCU first baseman Cuba Bess collected a pair of singles while designated hitter Dominic Grissom had a two-hit game as well. The Lopes had eight hits.
"I thought we hit some balls hard, they just did a good job of keeping us off balance," Staniewicz said. "That's part of our development. Our goal is to come play the Arkansas, the Baylors, the Stanfords. We want to get better. I thought we did fine, they just did a better job than we did tonight."
The Lopes will look for a series split on Wednesday against Arkansas with a 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) first pitch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: W. McEntire (1-0)
L: Lambert, Cal (0-2)
S: C. Monke (1)
Batting:
HR: Avitia, David 1
RBI: Avitia, David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Avitia, David 1
CS: Colato, Juan 1
Batting:
RBI: H. Kjerstad 1 ; M. Goodheart 1 ; C. Opitz 1 ; J. Nesbit 1 ; R. Moore 1 ; C. Austin 1
SF: C. Opitz 1
Base Running:
RUNS: H. Kjerstad 1 ; B. Webb 1 ; C. Opitz 1 ; J. Nesbit 1 ; R. Moore 1 ; C. Austin 1
HBP: H. Kjerstad 1
PO: H. Kjerstad 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
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