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 29
Orem, Utah
5 p.m.
Grand Canyon
29-14, 16-3
13
at
6
Utah Valley
15-27, 8-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
0
2
4
1
0
1
0
5
13
11
2
Utah Valley
0
0
4
1
0
1
0
0
0
6
9
1
Lopes settle in, pull away for Friday win
4/29/2022 9:10:00 PM | Baseball
Cooper-Vassalakis navigates 3 1/3 scoreless frames with 28 pitches; Jacob Wilson reaches 6 times
OREM, Utah — Grand Canyon trailed Utah Valley 4-2 early but outscored the Wolverines 11-2 the rest of the way to claim a 13-6 Friday night victory at UCCU Ballpark.
Lopes senior right-hander Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis was superb in relief, using just 28 pitches to navigate 3 1/3 innings and earn his second career save. Cooper-Vassalakis entered a 7-6 game in the bottom of the sixth and held the Wolverines silent, retiring 10 of the 11 batters he faced with the only reach coming via an error.
"That was huge," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "Nick (Hull) wasn't as sharp as he typically is on a Friday night. He competed and got us through five. Brodie was dealing. That was a big, big performance out of him. It was kind of a back-and-forth affair, the ball is flying out, we needed someone to come out of the bullpen and shut them down. That was all Brodie tonight."
The Lopes (29-14, 16-3 WAC) had a nice offensive night, collecting 11 hits while capitalizing on 10 walks issued by Utah Valley (15-27, 8-14 WAC).
GCU sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson reached base six times — drawing three walks and hitting three doubles. It was the first three-double performance by a Lopes batter since Quin Cotton did so four years ago to the day.
"He's always putting the ball in play," Stankiewicz said. "He's hitting the ball hard. It's just a matter of time with him. Just keep going to the plate, don't change your approach. It was a great job by him."
GCU opened the scoring in the third inning when junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar connected on his 13th home run of the season, scoring Wilson who was standing in scoring position after his second double of the game. Aguilar became the first GCU batter to hit 13 homers in a season since Matt Fox hit 14 in 2009.
Utah Valley answered back with a four-run, five-hit third inning to grab a 4-2 lead.
The Lopes continued the see-saw affair with a four-run frame of their own in the fourth. Junior catcher Josh Buckley continued his hot delayed start to the season with an RBI double to pull the Lopes within one. Senior third baseman Juan Colato tilted the score back in GCU's favor with a two-run single to left. Aguilar capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly to the warning track.
"We weathered a storm early," Stankiewicz said. "We punched, they punched back hard and got back in it real quick. It was just a matter of saying, 'Don't panic. Just stay in our game, keep playing our game.' We came out on top."
Utah Valley twice narrowed GCU's lead back to a single run, but the Lopes never lost the lead. A fifth-inning solo homer by Buckley extended GCU's lead to two runs at 6-4. UVU countered to make the game 6-5.
Stankiewicz pointed to a key run in the seventh for GCU to push its lead back to two runs. Sophomore left fielder Cade Verdusco doubled, advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and scored with two outs on a wild pitch.
"Cade Verdusco, in a tight ballgame with two outs, the ball kicked away from the catcher," Stankiewicz recalled. "It wasn't an easy score. He read it well and was aggressive. That one put us up by two. All those matter. All those baserunning plays matter."
The Lopes broke the game open in the ninth. Walks and a dropped third strike throwing error loaded up the bases. Colato drew a bases-loaded walk to score a run. Wilson hit his third double of the night to bring in two more. Aguilar hit his second sacrifice fly of the evening to score GCU's 12th run. Senior Nick Hansen — a mid-game substitute at first base — singled in the final run of the evening.
In a schedule change due to impending weather, the Lopes and Wolverines will close out the series with a Saturday doubleheader. The first game will remain at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) with the nightcap to follow 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Lopes senior right-hander Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis was superb in relief, using just 28 pitches to navigate 3 1/3 innings and earn his second career save. Cooper-Vassalakis entered a 7-6 game in the bottom of the sixth and held the Wolverines silent, retiring 10 of the 11 batters he faced with the only reach coming via an error.
"That was huge," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "Nick (Hull) wasn't as sharp as he typically is on a Friday night. He competed and got us through five. Brodie was dealing. That was a big, big performance out of him. It was kind of a back-and-forth affair, the ball is flying out, we needed someone to come out of the bullpen and shut them down. That was all Brodie tonight."
The Lopes (29-14, 16-3 WAC) had a nice offensive night, collecting 11 hits while capitalizing on 10 walks issued by Utah Valley (15-27, 8-14 WAC).
GCU sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson reached base six times — drawing three walks and hitting three doubles. It was the first three-double performance by a Lopes batter since Quin Cotton did so four years ago to the day.
"He's always putting the ball in play," Stankiewicz said. "He's hitting the ball hard. It's just a matter of time with him. Just keep going to the plate, don't change your approach. It was a great job by him."
GCU opened the scoring in the third inning when junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar connected on his 13th home run of the season, scoring Wilson who was standing in scoring position after his second double of the game. Aguilar became the first GCU batter to hit 13 homers in a season since Matt Fox hit 14 in 2009.
Utah Valley answered back with a four-run, five-hit third inning to grab a 4-2 lead.
The Lopes continued the see-saw affair with a four-run frame of their own in the fourth. Junior catcher Josh Buckley continued his hot delayed start to the season with an RBI double to pull the Lopes within one. Senior third baseman Juan Colato tilted the score back in GCU's favor with a two-run single to left. Aguilar capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly to the warning track.
"We weathered a storm early," Stankiewicz said. "We punched, they punched back hard and got back in it real quick. It was just a matter of saying, 'Don't panic. Just stay in our game, keep playing our game.' We came out on top."
Utah Valley twice narrowed GCU's lead back to a single run, but the Lopes never lost the lead. A fifth-inning solo homer by Buckley extended GCU's lead to two runs at 6-4. UVU countered to make the game 6-5.
Stankiewicz pointed to a key run in the seventh for GCU to push its lead back to two runs. Sophomore left fielder Cade Verdusco doubled, advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and scored with two outs on a wild pitch.
"Cade Verdusco, in a tight ballgame with two outs, the ball kicked away from the catcher," Stankiewicz recalled. "It wasn't an easy score. He read it well and was aggressive. That one put us up by two. All those matter. All those baserunning plays matter."
The Lopes broke the game open in the ninth. Walks and a dropped third strike throwing error loaded up the bases. Colato drew a bases-loaded walk to score a run. Wilson hit his third double of the night to bring in two more. Aguilar hit his second sacrifice fly of the evening to score GCU's 12th run. Senior Nick Hansen — a mid-game substitute at first base — singled in the final run of the evening.
In a schedule change due to impending weather, the Lopes and Wolverines will close out the series with a Saturday doubleheader. The first game will remain at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) with the nightcap to follow 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hull, Nick (5-1)
L: Smith, Devin (1-3)
S: Cooper-Vassalakis, Brodie (1)
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Jacob 3 ; Verdusco, Cade 1 ; Buckley, Josh 1
HR: Aguilar, Tayler 1 ; Buckley, Josh 1
RBI: Colato, Juan 3 ; Wilson, Jacob 2 ; Aguilar, Tayler 4 ; Hansen, Nick 1 ; Buckley, Josh 2
SH: Weaver, Jonny 1
SF: Aguilar, Tayler 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Colato, Juan 1 ; Wilson, Jacob 2 ; Aguilar, Tayler 1 ; Verdusco, Cade 2 ; Crenshaw, Dustin 1 ; Weaver, Jonny 1 ; Buckley, Josh 3 ; Bush Jr., Homer 2
HBP: Aguilar, Tayler 1 ; Hansen, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: Madsen, Mick 1
3B: Coburn, Kyle 1
HR: Vossen, Paul 1 ; Hansen, Copper 1
RBI: Madsen, Mick 1 ; Jordan, Cole 1 ; Vossen, Paul 2 ; Hansen, Copper 1 ; Luna, Brandon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cutchen, Trey 1 ; Madsen, Mick 1 ; Vossen, Paul 1 ; Hansen, Copper 1 ; Coburn, Kyle 1 ; Luna, Brandon 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
6
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballUTIL
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballGCU Baseball - WAC Tournament vs. Utah Tech - Highlights
Thursday, May 22
Baseball at Stanford - Barreras' game-winning double
Saturday, May 10
Baseball vs. Arizona (5/6/25) - Yorke homers twice to break record
Wednesday, May 07
GCU Baseball - Eli Paton walk-off single vs. UTA
Saturday, April 26