Upcoming Event: Baseball versus MLB Desert Invitational on February 13, 2026
Baseball
vs MLB Desert Invitational
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, April 30
Orem, Utah
1 p.m.
Grand Canyon
30-14, 17-3
16
at
4
Utah Valley
15-28, 8-15
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
3
1
0
0
0
4
0
4
4
16
17
0
Utah Valley
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
0
1
4
7
2
GCU wins series after doubleheader split
4/30/2022 4:58:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes mash 6 homers in 1st game, fall 10-6 in nightcap at UVU
OREM, Utah — Grand Canyon clinched a series victory by winning 16-4 in the opening game of a doubleheader at Utah Valley on Saturday. The Wolverines claimed the nightcap 10-6, leaving GCU with two wins in the three-game conference series.
GCU ends the day at 30-15 and 17-3 in WAC play, where the Lopes hold a five-game lead on second-place on California Baptist with nine conference games remaining for GCU.
It was the most home runs in a game for GCU since at least 2001. The Lopes homered five times on two occasions last season.
With an improptu doublheader because of rain forecast for Sunday, Buries opened the festivities with his fourth homer of the year. After base hits from sophomore second baseman Dustin Crenshaw and senior third baseman Juan Colato, Buries ensured the baserunners didn't go to waste with a three-run shot.
The Lopes led by no fewer than three runs the rest of the way.
Verdusco took a trip around the bases in the second inning, hitting a single and using two errors to score and give GCU a 4-0 lead.
Utah Valley narrowed the deficit to 4-1 in the third, a score that held through the middle innings until the Lopes posted four-run tallies in each of the sixth, eighth and ninth innings.
Aguilar homered for the first time in the sixth, a solo shot to lead off the sixth. Junior catcher Josh Buckley drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, and Bush Jr. hit his first career blast to score two more.
In the eighth, Aguilar hit GCU's second grand slam of the season. It was Aguilar's 15th home run of the year, the most by a GCU batter since Dan Williams hit 16 in 1996. Aguilar also shares the WAC home run lead with New Mexico State's Logan Gallina.
GCU's four-run ninth came via a pair of two-run blasts, one from Verdusco and another from Hansen.
Freshman pitcher Daniel Avitia earned his fifth win after tossing seven innings of three-run baseball, striking out six. In relief, graduate lefty Kyle Sandstrom pitched a scoreless frame, working around two walks thanks to three strikeouts. Junior right-hander Blake Reilly finished off the win with a one-run ninth.
The win gave GCU four consecutive 30-win seasons when playing a full slate.
GCU got the tying run on deck after scoring two runs in the ninth but Utah Valley hung on for a 10-6 victory.
The Lopes racked up 11 hits, including three from senior third baseman Jonny Weaver to raise his season average to .301. Freshman left fielder Maxwell Andeel hit his fourth home run of the season and drove in a pair of runs. Sophomore second baseman Dustin Crenshaw got a pair of hits and two RBIs out of the leadoff spot.
GCU led 2-1 in the fifth before surrendering a five-run inning to Utah Valley that featured a grand slam.
The Lopes looked to hit the comeback trail with a rally in the sixth inning that narrowed the deficit to 6-3, but the Wolverines scored three more times in the sixth and one more in the seventh to hit the 10-run mark.
GCU sophomore left-hander Connor Markl worked through the first four innings with only one run allowed but could not record an out to open the fifth. Junior Eli Ankeney surrendered three in relief and freshman R.J. Elmore allowed one run before junior Vince Reilly finished off the night with 1 1/3 scoreless frames.
GCU ends the day at 30-15 and 17-3 in WAC play, where the Lopes hold a five-game lead on second-place on California Baptist with nine conference games remaining for GCU.
Lopes open with power display
GCU won Saturday's first game by blasting six home runs. Junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar homered twice, sophomore infielder Elijah Buries had a first-inning blast, sophomore center fielder Homer Bush Jr. logged his first career homer, sophomore left fielder Cade Verdusco added another and senior infielder Nick Hansen recorded his first home run of the season.It was the most home runs in a game for GCU since at least 2001. The Lopes homered five times on two occasions last season.
With an improptu doublheader because of rain forecast for Sunday, Buries opened the festivities with his fourth homer of the year. After base hits from sophomore second baseman Dustin Crenshaw and senior third baseman Juan Colato, Buries ensured the baserunners didn't go to waste with a three-run shot.
The Lopes led by no fewer than three runs the rest of the way.
Verdusco took a trip around the bases in the second inning, hitting a single and using two errors to score and give GCU a 4-0 lead.
Utah Valley narrowed the deficit to 4-1 in the third, a score that held through the middle innings until the Lopes posted four-run tallies in each of the sixth, eighth and ninth innings.
Aguilar homered for the first time in the sixth, a solo shot to lead off the sixth. Junior catcher Josh Buckley drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, and Bush Jr. hit his first career blast to score two more.
In the eighth, Aguilar hit GCU's second grand slam of the season. It was Aguilar's 15th home run of the year, the most by a GCU batter since Dan Williams hit 16 in 1996. Aguilar also shares the WAC home run lead with New Mexico State's Logan Gallina.
GCU's four-run ninth came via a pair of two-run blasts, one from Verdusco and another from Hansen.
Freshman pitcher Daniel Avitia earned his fifth win after tossing seven innings of three-run baseball, striking out six. In relief, graduate lefty Kyle Sandstrom pitched a scoreless frame, working around two walks thanks to three strikeouts. Junior right-hander Blake Reilly finished off the win with a one-run ninth.
The win gave GCU four consecutive 30-win seasons when playing a full slate.
Extra-base hits sink Lopes in nightcap
Utah Valley scored eight combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings to build a lead the Lopes could not overcome in Saturday's second game, the series finale.GCU got the tying run on deck after scoring two runs in the ninth but Utah Valley hung on for a 10-6 victory.
The Lopes racked up 11 hits, including three from senior third baseman Jonny Weaver to raise his season average to .301. Freshman left fielder Maxwell Andeel hit his fourth home run of the season and drove in a pair of runs. Sophomore second baseman Dustin Crenshaw got a pair of hits and two RBIs out of the leadoff spot.
GCU led 2-1 in the fifth before surrendering a five-run inning to Utah Valley that featured a grand slam.
The Lopes looked to hit the comeback trail with a rally in the sixth inning that narrowed the deficit to 6-3, but the Wolverines scored three more times in the sixth and one more in the seventh to hit the 10-run mark.
GCU sophomore left-hander Connor Markl worked through the first four innings with only one run allowed but could not record an out to open the fifth. Junior Eli Ankeney surrendered three in relief and freshman R.J. Elmore allowed one run before junior Vince Reilly finished off the night with 1 1/3 scoreless frames.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Avitia, Daniel (5-4)
L: Rust, Coop (2-6)
Batting:
HR: Hansen, Nick 1 ; Aguilar, Tayler 2 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Verdusco, Cade 1 ; Bush Jr., Homer 1
RBI: Hansen, Nick 2 ; Aguilar, Tayler 5 ; Buries, Elijah 3 ; Verdusco, Cade 2 ; Buckley, Josh 1 ; Bush Jr., Homer 2
SF: Buckley, Josh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Crenshaw, Dustin 1 ; Hansen, Nick 1 ; Colato, Juan 1 ; Weaver, Jonny 1 ; Aguilar, Tayler 2 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Torres, Adrian 2 ; Verdusco, Cade 3 ; Buckley, Josh 1 ; Bush Jr., Homer 3
HBP: Torres, Adrian 2
Batting:
2B: Olsen, Spencer 1
HR: Hall, Connor 1 ; Luna, Brandon 1
RBI: Hall, Connor 2 ; Sims, Drew 1 ; Luna, Brandon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Olsen, Spencer 1 ; Karns, Alex 1 ; Hall, Connor 1 ; Luna, Brandon 1
Game Leaders
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H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
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1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
Players Mentioned
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