Lopes push No. 5 Beavers to brink

Tuesday, March 15

Corvallis, Ore.

5:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-8

Oregon State

12-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Grand Canyon	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	8	14	2
Oregon State	1	0	4	0	0	1	2	0	1	9	14	0

Photo by: Gary Breedlove

3/15/2022 9:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU leads 8-5, falls 9-8 on 2-out, walk-off single

By: Josh Hauser

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Grand Canyon baseball team dropped a back-and-forth Tuesday night matchup to No. 5 Oregon State 9-8 at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

The Lopes (9-8) held an 8-5 lead in the sixth inning after sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson hit his fifth home run of the season.

Oregon State (12-2) chipped away at the lead — as it had all night — with a run in the sixth, two in the seventh and one run in the ninth.

GCU held a lead most of the night. The Lopes led 2-1 after an inning, 4-1 in the middle of the third, 6-5 after five and 8-5 in the middle of the sixth. But the Beavers had an answer for each Lopes' edge.

Wilson led GCU with a four-hit game, the first of his career. He doubled twice and homered once for a career-high eight total bases. Sophomore first baseman Elijah Buries, freshman left fielder Maxwell Andeel and sophomore catcher Tyler Wilson also had multi-hit efforts.

Narrowly missed it last AB. Left no doubt on this AB. @jacobwilsonn22 #LopesUp

🔼 6 | GCU 8, OSU 5 pic.twitter.com/l7jYvAKwjM
— GCU Baseball (@GCU_Baseball) March 16, 2022

GCU connected for a hit in every inning until the eighth and did not go down in order until the ninth. The Lopes collected eight runs on 14 hits.

The first three batters of the game reached base for GCU, staking the Lopes to an early 2-0 lead after Wilson's first RBI and a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Juan Colato.

GCU scored twice more in a four-hit third inning. Wilson and Colato each doubled, and Andeel drove in a run on a single.

The Lopes led 4-1 into the bottom of the third, when Oregon State countered with four runs to take its first lead.

GCU battled back with two in the fifth and two in the sixth to grab a three-run advantage. Senior second baseman Jonny Weaver came through with a clutch two-out single up the middle to plate two in the fifth inning. Wilson's home run drove in Buries in the sixth.

Oregon State's bullpen took over in the final third of the ballgame. The Lopes tallied 13 hits through the first six frames but were held to just one in the final three innings. Junior right-hander Blake Reilly came on to pitch the ninth and struck out the first two batters he faced, but the Beavers staged a two-out rally with a single, a walk and a game-winning single on a 2-2 pitch.

The Lopes will look for a split of the midweek series on Wednesday at noon (Phoenix time).