Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, June 5
Tucson, Ariz.
1 p.m.
Grand Canyon
39-21-2
3
vs
5
Oklahoma State
36-18-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Oklahoma State
0
1
0
1
2
0
0
1
0
5
10
1
Grand Canyon
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
3
7
1
Photo by: Michael Rincon
Landmark season ends in Tucson Regional
6/5/2021 7:14:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes take next step in program's mission to build from 'good to great'
TUCSON, Ariz. — The standing ovation from Grand Canyon fans at the end of the game was more of appreciation than exultation. The embraces among players along the first-base line more sentimental than celebratory.
That was the scene Saturday afternoon after a historic baseball season for GCU came to an end with a 5-3 loss to No. 23 Oklahoma State in an elimination game of the Tucson Regional at Hi Corbett Field.
The Lopes' first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament was over in 24 hours -- a 12-6 loss to the No. 5 team in the country, Arizona, on Friday night followed by Saturday afternoon's loss to another Top-25 team in Oklahoma State.
And while GCU coach Andy Stankiewicz doesn't believe in moral victories – "The goal is to get to Omaha, bottom line" – he acknowledged the experience of competing against ranked teams in a regional of the NCAA tournament is the first step toward reaching that goal.
"Step 1 is getting to a regional, seeing how this feels, seeing the hotel where there's energy from your fans and your family, and getting on a bus… All of the experiences you have in this type of setting are different than what we're used to. So any time we can get in these moments where the guys can get a feel for what it's going to feel like, I think it's going to help them down the road. This moment and this experience is obviously not what we wanted but it will put us in a better spot when we get back to a regional."
Cowboys left-hander Parker Scott, who defeated GCU earlier this season with six innings of one-run ball, was nearly as dominant Saturday, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings to get the win.
The momentum started to tilt toward GCU in the seventh inning. The Cowboys, leading 4-2, loaded the bases with no outs on two hit batters and a walk. But GCU's Carter Young, who stands 5-foot-11, 150 pounds, struck out the No. 4 and 5 Oklahoma State hitters – Jake Thompson (6-0, 210) and Carson McCusker (6-8, 250) -- then got Cade Cabbiness (6-4, 232), who had already doubled and homered in the game, to fly out to right field to end the threat and keep GCU close.
"That was big, absolutely," Stankiewicz said. "Bases loaded for Carter Young without giving up a run was pivotal. You're thinking OK, that's what we need. Let's get back in the dugout and put some good at-bats together."
In the bottom half of the inning, GCU scored to pull within one run on a walk and two singles to chase Scott. But reliever Kale Davis induced two ground balls to end the threat. He and closer Brett Sandlee retired eight straight batters to finish the game.
"Those two relievers, those guys are real," Stankiewicz said. "Those guys are dominant college pitchers. Again, they're velo(city) guys (like the Arizona relievers the previous night). They're big, big arms. … We don't typically face those arms in the WAC on the relieving side of it."
Nolan McLean tacked on a solo homer in the eighth for the Cowboys, who had 10 hits.
For GCU, most of the offense came from two of their freshmen -- Jacob Wilson, who had a solo home run among his two hits, and Elijah Buries, who was 3 for 4 and scored a run. Buries finished the two-game regional 5 for 9 to improve his average to .374 for the season.
While the future is bright for the Lopes thanks in large part to a talented freshman class, the hugs and embraces at the end of the game were emotional for 15 seniors who closed out their GCU careers.
"It's tough," said senior shortstop Channy Ortiz during an emotional postgame interview. "Being an Arizona guy and playing with these guys since I was 9 years old… there's at least five of those guys on this team. It's heartbreaking, but at the end of the day my teammates and I love each other and left it all out there."
Ortiz and his fellow seniors helped the program get over the hurdle of making it to a regional and set a strong example for younger players.
"I think that's what we left behind in this program," Ortiz said, "for it to go from good to great."
That was the scene Saturday afternoon after a historic baseball season for GCU came to an end with a 5-3 loss to No. 23 Oklahoma State in an elimination game of the Tucson Regional at Hi Corbett Field.
The Lopes' first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament was over in 24 hours -- a 12-6 loss to the No. 5 team in the country, Arizona, on Friday night followed by Saturday afternoon's loss to another Top-25 team in Oklahoma State.
And while GCU coach Andy Stankiewicz doesn't believe in moral victories – "The goal is to get to Omaha, bottom line" – he acknowledged the experience of competing against ranked teams in a regional of the NCAA tournament is the first step toward reaching that goal.
"Step 1 is getting to a regional, seeing how this feels, seeing the hotel where there's energy from your fans and your family, and getting on a bus… All of the experiences you have in this type of setting are different than what we're used to. So any time we can get in these moments where the guys can get a feel for what it's going to feel like, I think it's going to help them down the road. This moment and this experience is obviously not what we wanted but it will put us in a better spot when we get back to a regional."
Cowboys left-hander Parker Scott, who defeated GCU earlier this season with six innings of one-run ball, was nearly as dominant Saturday, allowing two earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings to get the win.
The momentum started to tilt toward GCU in the seventh inning. The Cowboys, leading 4-2, loaded the bases with no outs on two hit batters and a walk. But GCU's Carter Young, who stands 5-foot-11, 150 pounds, struck out the No. 4 and 5 Oklahoma State hitters – Jake Thompson (6-0, 210) and Carson McCusker (6-8, 250) -- then got Cade Cabbiness (6-4, 232), who had already doubled and homered in the game, to fly out to right field to end the threat and keep GCU close.
"That was big, absolutely," Stankiewicz said. "Bases loaded for Carter Young without giving up a run was pivotal. You're thinking OK, that's what we need. Let's get back in the dugout and put some good at-bats together."
How to get out of a jam, illustrated by @C31Young.
— Grand Canyon Baseball 🏆 (@GCU_Baseball) June 5, 2021
Watch on ESPN3: https://t.co/9Mt77MakZm#LopesUp x #RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/NDCSTW54oB
In the bottom half of the inning, GCU scored to pull within one run on a walk and two singles to chase Scott. But reliever Kale Davis induced two ground balls to end the threat. He and closer Brett Sandlee retired eight straight batters to finish the game.
"Those two relievers, those guys are real," Stankiewicz said. "Those guys are dominant college pitchers. Again, they're velo(city) guys (like the Arizona relievers the previous night). They're big, big arms. … We don't typically face those arms in the WAC on the relieving side of it."
Nolan McLean tacked on a solo homer in the eighth for the Cowboys, who had 10 hits.
For GCU, most of the offense came from two of their freshmen -- Jacob Wilson, who had a solo home run among his two hits, and Elijah Buries, who was 3 for 4 and scored a run. Buries finished the two-game regional 5 for 9 to improve his average to .374 for the season.
While the future is bright for the Lopes thanks in large part to a talented freshman class, the hugs and embraces at the end of the game were emotional for 15 seniors who closed out their GCU careers.
"It's tough," said senior shortstop Channy Ortiz during an emotional postgame interview. "Being an Arizona guy and playing with these guys since I was 9 years old… there's at least five of those guys on this team. It's heartbreaking, but at the end of the day my teammates and I love each other and left it all out there."
Ortiz and his fellow seniors helped the program get over the hurdle of making it to a regional and set a strong example for younger players.
"I think that's what we left behind in this program," Ortiz said, "for it to go from good to great."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Scott, Parker (8-1)
L: McCarville, Dawson (5-3)
S: Standlee, Brett (5)
Batting:
2B: Cabbiness, Cade 1
HR: Cabbiness, Cade 1 ; McLean, Nolan 1
RBI: McCusker, Carson 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1 ; McLean, Nolan 1 ; Brown, Marcus 1
SH: Golda, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hewitt, Max 1 ; Enc.-Strand, Chris. 1 ; McCusker, Carson 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1 ; McLean, Nolan 1
CS: Brown, Marcus 1
HBP: Trenkle, Caeden 1 ; Hewitt, Max 1 ; Brown, Marcus 1
Batting:
HR: Wilson, Jacob 1
RBI: Burton, Brock 1 ; Wilson, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Weaver, Jonny 1
HBP: Verdusco, Cade 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
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