Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, April 30
Sacramento, Calif.
5 p.m.
Grand Canyon
24-15-1, 0
15
at
5
Sacramento State
25-14, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
3
4
2
2
1
3
15
17
0
Sacramento State
4
1
0
0
0
0
0
5
6
0
Lopes mash way to run-rule victory
4/30/2021 9:45:00 PM | Baseball
GCU hits 5 homers for 1st time since 2010 in series-opening win at Sac State
SACRAMENTO — Grand Canyon hit five home runs for the first time since 2010, erasing a 4-0 first-inning deficit to post a mercy-rule, 15-5 victory at Sacramento State on Friday night.
GCU seniors Brock Burton and Channy Ortiz each hit two home runs and logged six RBIs at John Smith Field. The five-homer performance was the first by a Lopes squad since also hitting five on April 30, 2010, against CSU San Bernardino.
"It's a lot of fun to watch," Burton said of Ortiz's at bats. "He told me in between innings, 'Hey, I'm not going to let you catch up to me in home run total.' I can't say enough about Channy. That guy is awesome."
Every Lopes batter recorded a hit with five logging multi-hit games. The 17-hit output was the Lopes' season high.
"I think it's that point in the season where we're going up a little bit," Ortiz said of a Lopes team that has won 10 of 11. "Everything is kind of flowing together. We know what we have to do. We know what we have to do on the pitching side, the defense side, the hitting side."
The Hornets (25-14, 16-9 WAC) jumped on the Lopes (24-15-1, 17-4 WAC) with four first-inning runs on three hits and four walks.
GCU responded immediately with a three-run second inning to get back in the game. Burton's first homer of the evening plated the first two runs, while a two-out single up the middle by Ortiz narrowed the deficit to 4-3.
"We definitely had to answer back," Ortiz said. "They got to Barnzy (GCU starting pitcher Zach Barnes) a little bit, but we're going to pick each other up. We knew that second inning that we just had to get one. Let them know that we're here. We're in the ballgame. And we ended up getting three. It was good, picking up Barnzy there. That was amazing. Put up zeros on the board, keep the momentum on our side and keep scoring runs."
Sac State got right back to putting up runs in the second inning after back-to-back base hits to open the frame and a sac fly. But after the leadoff hits, GCU turned the ball over to redshirt senior left-hander Jack Schneider. He not only limited the damage to the one run in the second, but he shut out the Hornets for next four innings while allowing just one hit.
Following its three-run second inning, GCU scored runs in every inning the rest of the way to induce the 10-run mercy rule after seven innings.
The Lopes scored four in the third to take their first lead before posting two-run frames in the fourth and fifth, a one-run tally in the sixth and three more runs in the seventh for the 15-5 advantage.
The four-run third came on one swing of Burton's bat. His second home run of the game was GCU's first grand slam since Tyler Wyatt hit one on May 12, 2019, against Northern Colorado.
"I knew I hit it pretty good," Burton said. "It was a pretty cool feeling. I've never hit two home runs in a game before. To do it to take a lead there was pretty awesome. Then just the rest of the game, everybody just crushing the ball was a lot of fun."
While Burton's two home runs came early, Ortiz's came late. The shortstop hit blasts in the fifth and seventh innings. Burton and Ortiz each logged six RBIs — the most by a Lopes batter since Drew Smith's legendary opening-night performance against Oklahoma State in 2020.
"All week, we were just working on taking short swings," Ortiz said. "Sacramento, they throw a lot of strikes. We knew we were going to get a lot of strikes. Just take short swings. Put a good swing on it."
On the mound, Schneider gave way to GCU debutant Vince Reilly, a sophomore transfer from Hawaii who became eligible this week following the conclusion of the academic year. Reilly tossed two scoreless innings to wrap up the contest, facing one over the minimum.
The Lopes posted a run-rule victory for the first time since Wyatt's grand slam game on May 12, 2019, and did so against Sacramento State for the first time in the programs' competitive series.
The Lopes and Hornets meet for a pair on Saturday with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
GCU seniors Brock Burton and Channy Ortiz each hit two home runs and logged six RBIs at John Smith Field. The five-homer performance was the first by a Lopes squad since also hitting five on April 30, 2010, against CSU San Bernardino.
"It's a lot of fun to watch," Burton said of Ortiz's at bats. "He told me in between innings, 'Hey, I'm not going to let you catch up to me in home run total.' I can't say enough about Channy. That guy is awesome."
Every Lopes batter recorded a hit with five logging multi-hit games. The 17-hit output was the Lopes' season high.
"I think it's that point in the season where we're going up a little bit," Ortiz said of a Lopes team that has won 10 of 11. "Everything is kind of flowing together. We know what we have to do. We know what we have to do on the pitching side, the defense side, the hitting side."
The Hornets (25-14, 16-9 WAC) jumped on the Lopes (24-15-1, 17-4 WAC) with four first-inning runs on three hits and four walks.
GCU responded immediately with a three-run second inning to get back in the game. Burton's first homer of the evening plated the first two runs, while a two-out single up the middle by Ortiz narrowed the deficit to 4-3.
"We definitely had to answer back," Ortiz said. "They got to Barnzy (GCU starting pitcher Zach Barnes) a little bit, but we're going to pick each other up. We knew that second inning that we just had to get one. Let them know that we're here. We're in the ballgame. And we ended up getting three. It was good, picking up Barnzy there. That was amazing. Put up zeros on the board, keep the momentum on our side and keep scoring runs."
Sac State got right back to putting up runs in the second inning after back-to-back base hits to open the frame and a sac fly. But after the leadoff hits, GCU turned the ball over to redshirt senior left-hander Jack Schneider. He not only limited the damage to the one run in the second, but he shut out the Hornets for next four innings while allowing just one hit.
Following its three-run second inning, GCU scored runs in every inning the rest of the way to induce the 10-run mercy rule after seven innings.
The Lopes scored four in the third to take their first lead before posting two-run frames in the fourth and fifth, a one-run tally in the sixth and three more runs in the seventh for the 15-5 advantage.
The four-run third came on one swing of Burton's bat. His second home run of the game was GCU's first grand slam since Tyler Wyatt hit one on May 12, 2019, against Northern Colorado.
"I knew I hit it pretty good," Burton said. "It was a pretty cool feeling. I've never hit two home runs in a game before. To do it to take a lead there was pretty awesome. Then just the rest of the game, everybody just crushing the ball was a lot of fun."
While Burton's two home runs came early, Ortiz's came late. The shortstop hit blasts in the fifth and seventh innings. Burton and Ortiz each logged six RBIs — the most by a Lopes batter since Drew Smith's legendary opening-night performance against Oklahoma State in 2020.
"All week, we were just working on taking short swings," Ortiz said. "Sacramento, they throw a lot of strikes. We knew we were going to get a lot of strikes. Just take short swings. Put a good swing on it."
On the mound, Schneider gave way to GCU debutant Vince Reilly, a sophomore transfer from Hawaii who became eligible this week following the conclusion of the academic year. Reilly tossed two scoreless innings to wrap up the contest, facing one over the minimum.
The Lopes posted a run-rule victory for the first time since Wyatt's grand slam game on May 12, 2019, and did so against Sacramento State for the first time in the programs' competitive series.
The Lopes and Hornets meet for a pair on Saturday with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schneider, Jack (1-2)
L: Adams, T (5-2)
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Avitia, David 1 ; Weaver, Jonny 1
HR: Ortiz, Channy 2 ; Colato, Juan 1 ; Burton, Brock 2
RBI: Ortiz, Channy 6 ; Colato, Juan 1 ; Aguilar, Tayler 2 ; Burton, Brock 6
Base Running:
RUNS: Ortiz, Channy 3 ; Colato, Juan 3 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Verdusco, Cade 2 ; Burton, Brock 3 ; Avitia, David 1 ; Weaver, Jonny 2
Batting:
2B: Smith, M 1
RBI: Walstad, R 1 ; Dorraugh, H 2 ; Moretto, S 1 ; Torres, K 1
SF: Walstad, R 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Iwasa, N 1 ; Doyle, T 2 ; Bacho, D 1 ; Dorraugh, H 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
6
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
6
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
UTIL
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