Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, May 26
Mesa, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
41-17
4
vs
3
Lamar
37-20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Lamar
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
3
5
4
Grand Canyon
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
1
4
8
2
Fitting heroes keep Lopes winning at WAC
5/26/2022 11:01:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
Hull's stellar start sets up Colato's walk-off single in tournament's 2nd round
MESA, Ariz. — A baseball team as good as No. 25 Grand Canyon carries a compilation of inspirational individuals with stellar storylines.
But as GCU sprinted and danced to the Hohokam Stadium center field in walk-off WAC Tournament glee, it was apropos that the Lopes who started and finished Thursday night's work of beating Lamar 4-3 were graduates Nick Hull and Juan Colato.
Hull, who returned for a fifth year to become a Friday night ace after not starting since 2019, delivered his best outing since April 1 and Colato, the first Division I baseball scholarship player from El Salvador, continued his team-best hitting (.376) with a game-winning single in his first WAC Tournament.
GCU (41-17) moved two wins away from defending its WAC Tournament title and returning to the NCAA tournament with its ninth come-from-behind victory of May. An eight-game winning streak ended for Lamar (37-20) despite the Cardinals taking a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning and bringing in their All-WAC first-team closer, Jack Dallas.
"It's just pure happiness," Colato said after GCU's eighth consecutive win culminated with him and Hull hugging 200 feet from where he connected on the game-winning hit. "Every time you can help the team win, especially right now with the tournament, I couldn't be more happy right now."
Hull (7-1) and Lamar senior ace Adam Wheaton (10-3) were locked in a pitcher's duel that brought out the Lopes right-hander's grit. With his curve ball joining his change-up and low-90s fastball, Hull shut out the Cardinals until the seventh inning.
A blooped single and check-swing single helped move across one Lamar run and an error allowed the Cardinals to tie the score on his 100th pitch, even though sophomore first baseman Elijah Buries was able to throw out a potential go-ahead run at home plate.
"I got a little emotional after I came out, but hopefully we're doing this again next week," Hull said, referring to the start of NCAA regional play.
An inning earlier in the sixth, GCU moved ahead 2-0 with the help of two Lamar errors. Junior outfielder Tayler Aguilar, who had two RBIs in Wednesday's win, hit an RBI single past a drawn-in infield for the first run and junior catcher Josh Buckley picked up the first of his two clutch RBIs with a sacrifice fly.
"We were getting grittier and tougher as the game went on," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "That's good baseball. That's what good teams do. They just never go away. That's been our approach all year offensively, staying in the fight and figuring a way to get to first base."
After another error helped Lamar take a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth, GCU responded in the bottom of the eighth with consecutive one-out singles by Colato and sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson to chase Wheaton.
With two outs, Buckley flared an opposite-field single to right to score Colato and tie the game at 3-3.
GCU junior closer Vince Reilly, who has the same 7-1 record as Hull but with a GCU-record 14 saves, pitched a perfect ninth inning to keep the game tied for the bottom-of-the-ninth dramatics.
Weaver blooped a ninth-inning single to right and moved to second on sophomore Dustin Crenshaw's five-pitch walk. With two outs, Colato came up amid his turnaround from a four-strikeout game in the first round. This time, he adjusted to the steady flow of off-speed pitches and sent a slider into center field.
"I was just too excited yesterday," said Colato, a South Mountain Community College transfer who lost the 2020 tournament to COVID and the 2021 tournament to injury. "Today, I had early work with Coach Stank and then talked to my dad a little bit. Then, I just kept things simple. Have fun. It's the same game. No need to try to be someone that you're not and things worked out well."
Colato ended his postgame interview by sending a message to his family in El Salvador on GCU TV, saying in Spanish, "Greetings to my family. I love you a lot. Take care of yourselves. This is for all of you."
GCU is extending its record for wins in a Division I season with 23 of them coming in games that it once trailed. The Lopes will go for another at 7 p.m. Friday, when it will face the winner of a noon game between its tournament victims, Abilene Christian and Lamar.
"It's not always going to be pretty," Stankiewicz said. "It's not going to be easy. Never. Just stay in the fight. Nice job by the fellas."
But as GCU sprinted and danced to the Hohokam Stadium center field in walk-off WAC Tournament glee, it was apropos that the Lopes who started and finished Thursday night's work of beating Lamar 4-3 were graduates Nick Hull and Juan Colato.
Hull, who returned for a fifth year to become a Friday night ace after not starting since 2019, delivered his best outing since April 1 and Colato, the first Division I baseball scholarship player from El Salvador, continued his team-best hitting (.376) with a game-winning single in his first WAC Tournament.
GCU (41-17) moved two wins away from defending its WAC Tournament title and returning to the NCAA tournament with its ninth come-from-behind victory of May. An eight-game winning streak ended for Lamar (37-20) despite the Cardinals taking a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning and bringing in their All-WAC first-team closer, Jack Dallas.
"It's just pure happiness," Colato said after GCU's eighth consecutive win culminated with him and Hull hugging 200 feet from where he connected on the game-winning hit. "Every time you can help the team win, especially right now with the tournament, I couldn't be more happy right now."
Hull (7-1) and Lamar senior ace Adam Wheaton (10-3) were locked in a pitcher's duel that brought out the Lopes right-hander's grit. With his curve ball joining his change-up and low-90s fastball, Hull shut out the Cardinals until the seventh inning.A blooped single and check-swing single helped move across one Lamar run and an error allowed the Cardinals to tie the score on his 100th pitch, even though sophomore first baseman Elijah Buries was able to throw out a potential go-ahead run at home plate.
"I got a little emotional after I came out, but hopefully we're doing this again next week," Hull said, referring to the start of NCAA regional play.
An inning earlier in the sixth, GCU moved ahead 2-0 with the help of two Lamar errors. Junior outfielder Tayler Aguilar, who had two RBIs in Wednesday's win, hit an RBI single past a drawn-in infield for the first run and junior catcher Josh Buckley picked up the first of his two clutch RBIs with a sacrifice fly.
"We were getting grittier and tougher as the game went on," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "That's good baseball. That's what good teams do. They just never go away. That's been our approach all year offensively, staying in the fight and figuring a way to get to first base."After another error helped Lamar take a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth, GCU responded in the bottom of the eighth with consecutive one-out singles by Colato and sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson to chase Wheaton.
With two outs, Buckley flared an opposite-field single to right to score Colato and tie the game at 3-3.
GCU junior closer Vince Reilly, who has the same 7-1 record as Hull but with a GCU-record 14 saves, pitched a perfect ninth inning to keep the game tied for the bottom-of-the-ninth dramatics.
Weaver blooped a ninth-inning single to right and moved to second on sophomore Dustin Crenshaw's five-pitch walk. With two outs, Colato came up amid his turnaround from a four-strikeout game in the first round. This time, he adjusted to the steady flow of off-speed pitches and sent a slider into center field.
"I was just too excited yesterday," said Colato, a South Mountain Community College transfer who lost the 2020 tournament to COVID and the 2021 tournament to injury. "Today, I had early work with Coach Stank and then talked to my dad a little bit. Then, I just kept things simple. Have fun. It's the same game. No need to try to be someone that you're not and things worked out well."Colato ended his postgame interview by sending a message to his family in El Salvador on GCU TV, saying in Spanish, "Greetings to my family. I love you a lot. Take care of yourselves. This is for all of you."
GCU is extending its record for wins in a Division I season with 23 of them coming in games that it once trailed. The Lopes will go for another at 7 p.m. Friday, when it will face the winner of a noon game between its tournament victims, Abilene Christian and Lamar.
"It's not always going to be pretty," Stankiewicz said. "It's not going to be easy. Never. Just stay in the fight. Nice job by the fellas."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Reilly, Vince (7-1)
L: Dallas, J. (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Durand, R. 1
RBI: Harper, K. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bermudez, K. 1 ; Blankenship 1 ; Banks, K. 1
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Tyler 1
RBI: Colato, Juan 1 ; Aguilar, Tayler 1 ; Buckley, Josh 2
SF: Buckley, Josh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Colato, Juan 2 ; Aguilar, Tayler 1 ; Weaver, Jonny 1
CS: Wilson, Jacob 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballUTIL
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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