Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, March 1
San Diego, Calif.
7 p.m. MST
Grand Canyon
4-4
9
at
6
UC San Diego
6-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
1
0
0
3
0
1
0
1
3
9
6
2
UC San Diego
0
0
3
0
0
1
0
2
0
6
8
5
Photo by: Zach Campbell
Wilson's late heroics fuel win at UC San Diego
3/1/2022 10:43:00 PM | Baseball
Tritons tie see-saw affair in 8th; Wilson hits 3-run, 2-out blast in 9th
LA JOLLA, Calif. — With the momentum in the hands of UC San Diego after forcing an eighth-inning tie, Grand Canyon answered in the form of a three-run, game-winning home run from sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson to claim a back-and-forth battle 9-6 on Tuesday night.
GCU (4-4) grabbed a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning behind the power of its first three-run homer of the night, a fly ball over the left-field wall by freshman right fielder Maxwell Andeel. UC San Diego (6-4) stormed back to score two runs in the eighth, including a two-out game-tying single that just snuck under the glove of Lopes senior third baseman Juan Colato.
After junior designated hitter Ronnie Belton III and sophomore first baseman Elijah Buries each reached on errors in the ninth, the Lopes capitalized.
"Once we went down, it was everyone pulling together to get some hits and score some runs, and we did just that," Wilson said. "When (UCSD) got that last run and we were tied, we came back in fired up to score another run to take the lead back. Overall, it was a good team win."
It was the second home run in as many games for Wilson, who smacked the first pitch he saw in his ninth-inning at bat.
"I went up there with two outs, and I knew there was a lefty batter behind me so they could pitch around me," Wilson said. "I had to look for the best pitch to score some runs, and the fastball first pitch was right there."
After the Lopes watched UC San Diego take advantage of a leadoff error to plate three runs in the bottom of the third, GCU returned the favor in the top of the fourth.
Andeel's homer turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead. The freshman's second career homer came on the heels of back-to-back, two-out walks to sophomores Dustin Crenshaw and Cade Verdusco.
GCU added a run to grow its lead to 5-3 in the sixth. Verdusco drew a two-out walk, moved to second on a passed ball and scored when Andeel's batted ball was mishandled by the shortstop.
The Tritons countered with a run in the sixth after a leadoff single ultimately scored on a two-out balk to tighten the Lopes lead to 5-4.
GCU took the lead back to two in the eighth, when Colato legged out a bunt single and cruised home on a Verdusco triple.
The Lopes' 6-4 lead didn't hold long, as the Tritons scored two runs on two hits in the eighth to tie it.
Wilson's homer put GCU up three, a margin that would hold. UCSD got its first two runners on base in the home half of the ninth, but junior right-hander Vince Reilly coaxed a fielder's choice, a strikeout and a ground out. Reilly was credited with the win after entering with two outs in the eighth.
GCU tallied only six hits, but the big blows of Wilson and Andeel accounted for six runs alone. Sophomore outfielder Homer Bush Jr. had one of the six hits, getting the Lopes on the board in the first after doubling and later scoring on a wild pitch.
A conference-opening showdown awaits GCU in Riverside, California, where the reigning co-champions of the WAC regular season will square off three times. First pitch in Friday's opener is set for 7 p.m. (Phoenix time).
GCU (4-4) grabbed a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning behind the power of its first three-run homer of the night, a fly ball over the left-field wall by freshman right fielder Maxwell Andeel. UC San Diego (6-4) stormed back to score two runs in the eighth, including a two-out game-tying single that just snuck under the glove of Lopes senior third baseman Juan Colato.
After junior designated hitter Ronnie Belton III and sophomore first baseman Elijah Buries each reached on errors in the ninth, the Lopes capitalized.
"Once we went down, it was everyone pulling together to get some hits and score some runs, and we did just that," Wilson said. "When (UCSD) got that last run and we were tied, we came back in fired up to score another run to take the lead back. Overall, it was a good team win."
It was the second home run in as many games for Wilson, who smacked the first pitch he saw in his ninth-inning at bat.
"I went up there with two outs, and I knew there was a lefty batter behind me so they could pitch around me," Wilson said. "I had to look for the best pitch to score some runs, and the fastball first pitch was right there."
It was not a clean game for either side, with the Lopes committing two errors and the Tritons committing five. Over half (8 of 15) of the game's runs were unearned.Are you serious @jacobwilsonn22?!?
— GCU Baseball (@GCU_Baseball) March 2, 2022
A three-run shot with two outs in the top of the 9th gives us the lead! #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/JT9lMfCoFJ
After the Lopes watched UC San Diego take advantage of a leadoff error to plate three runs in the bottom of the third, GCU returned the favor in the top of the fourth.
Andeel's homer turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead. The freshman's second career homer came on the heels of back-to-back, two-out walks to sophomores Dustin Crenshaw and Cade Verdusco.
GCU added a run to grow its lead to 5-3 in the sixth. Verdusco drew a two-out walk, moved to second on a passed ball and scored when Andeel's batted ball was mishandled by the shortstop.
The Tritons countered with a run in the sixth after a leadoff single ultimately scored on a two-out balk to tighten the Lopes lead to 5-4.
GCU took the lead back to two in the eighth, when Colato legged out a bunt single and cruised home on a Verdusco triple.
The Lopes' 6-4 lead didn't hold long, as the Tritons scored two runs on two hits in the eighth to tie it.
Wilson's homer put GCU up three, a margin that would hold. UCSD got its first two runners on base in the home half of the ninth, but junior right-hander Vince Reilly coaxed a fielder's choice, a strikeout and a ground out. Reilly was credited with the win after entering with two outs in the eighth.
GCU tallied only six hits, but the big blows of Wilson and Andeel accounted for six runs alone. Sophomore outfielder Homer Bush Jr. had one of the six hits, getting the Lopes on the board in the first after doubling and later scoring on a wild pitch.
A conference-opening showdown awaits GCU in Riverside, California, where the reigning co-champions of the WAC regular season will square off three times. First pitch in Friday's opener is set for 7 p.m. (Phoenix time).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Reilly, Vince (1-0)
L: Martinez, I. (1-1)
Batting:
3B: Verdusco, Cade 1
HR: Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 1
RBI: Wilson, Jacob 3 ; Verdusco, Cade 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 3
SH: Weaver, Jonny 1
SF: Buries, Elijah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bush Jr., Homer 1 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Crenshaw, Dustin 1 ; Colato, Juan 1 ; Verdusco, Cade 2 ; Andeel, Maxwell 1 ; Wall, Jaxson 1
SB: Colato, Juan 1
HBP: Snedeker, Sy 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, J. 1 ; Kleszcz, B. 1 ; Saunders, L. 1
RBI: Filia, M. 1 ; Smith, J. 1 ; Smith, A. 1 ; Saunders, L. 2
SH: Lucchetti, A 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robinson, C. 1 ; Lucchetti, A 1 ; Smith, J. 1 ; Halbach, M. 1 ; Kleszcz, B. 1 ; Saunders, L. 1
HBP: Filia, M. 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
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OF
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/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballUTIL
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INF
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RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
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