Comeback win opens tourney title defense

Wednesday, May 25

Mesa, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

40-17

Abilene Christian

26-28

Abilene Christian

Grand Canyon

5/25/2022 11:15:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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Avitia settles after 2-0 hole; trio rallies Lopes with 2-RBI games

By: Paul Coro

MESA, Ariz. – Grand Canyon baseball has been a comeback win waiting to happen this month.

The 25th-ranked Lopes opened the WAC Tournament by facing another challenge but not defeat. GCU fell behind 2-0 in the first inning to Abilene Christian and did not get a hit until the fourth inning, but WAC Pitcher of the Year Daniel Avitia struck out 12 batters and the offense ignited for the Lopes' eighth comeback win in May.

With an 8-4 first-round win on Wednesday night at Hohokam Stadium, GCU (40-17) set its victory record for a season in its Division I eras (1991-98, 2014-22). The defending WAC Tournament champions and WAC West No. 1 seed advanced to a 7 p.m. Thursday game against WAC Southwest No. 2 seed Lamar (37-19), which is on an eight-game winning streak.

"With this team, there's no panic," said Lopes senior third baseman Jonny Weaver, who went 2 for 3 with two RBIs in GCU's 22nd come-from-behind win of the season. "It's been like that all year. It's just what we do."

The Lopes fell behind on a two-run, first-inning double when sophomore center fielder Homer Bush Jr. crashed into the left-center field wall at full speed for an attempted catch. Bush left the game for concussion protocol but returned an inning later.

Despite that 36-pitch inning, Avitia (8-4) found his rhythm for a six-inning outing that matched his second-best strikeout total of the season. At one point, Avitia retired 15 of 16 Abilene Christian batters.

After graduating from Phoenix Alhambra High School a year ago, the gritty right-hander has struck out 34 batters over 20 innings in his past three starts and 107 for the season.

Daniel Avitia

"I just started relaxing more and taking more deep breaths," Avitia said. "I knew my team was going to come back. I know my hitters got me. I just wanted to keep my team in it.

"I got a better feel for my fastball (after the first inning), that's for sure. I talked with my catcher (Josh Buckley) and he said, 'Your fastball is looking good. Let's attack them with that and make them earn it."

The Lopes mounted their first threat in the fourth inning with two outs but stranded those runners before breaking through with more two-out offense an inning later.

With Weaver on with a walk, sophomore second baseman Elijah Buries crushed a belt-high slider to the left-field wall to trim the Abilene Christian lead to 2-1.

"We had to kick and claw our way back into it and then the guys put some great at bats together," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "Quite a few of those were with two outs, two strikes. Not trying to do too much. Just playing pepper and putting the ball in play with nice line drives."

As Wildcats starting pitcher Tyler Morgan passed 100 pitches in the sixth, the Lopes drew three consecutive one-out walks and prompted a pitching change. Sophomore left fielder Cade Verdusco tied the game by lining a 1-2 fastball to center field and Weaver sent another single to center field to score two Lopes for a 4-2 edge.

"I was just grinding there and just trying to shoot it up the middle," Weaver said. "He was mixing some pitches with change-ups, sliders and fastballs. I was just trying to stay on all of them and shoot it the other way."

GCU senior Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis, whose father, Theo, made a surprise visit from Australia, and sophomore Eli Ankeney combined for 1 2/3 shutout relief innings to set up GCU for adding four insurance runs.

In the seventh inning, GCU had two outs and nobody on before junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar doubled and scored on sophomore first baseman Tyler Wilson's RBI single to center for a 5-3 lead.

A three-run eighth inning featured Buries finishing his two-hit, two-RBI game with a single that scored Weaver, who had doubled. Aguilar knocked another double, increasing his team-high RBI season total to 67.

Buries is on a 12-game hitting streak with multi-hit performances in the past five games (11 for 23).

"We love to drive the ball and hit homers, but they weren't letting us tonight," Stankiewicz said. "Our guys were, 'OK, they're making good pitches. Let's just put the ball in play and take our chances.' Something we preach a lot is using the middle of the field and the guys did a great job."