Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, June 4
Stillwater, Okla.
10 a.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
Missouri State
Season rides on beating Missouri State
6/3/2022 7:15:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
Lopes take on Bears in Stillwater Regional elimination game
Saturday, June 4 | NCAA regional | O'Brate Stadium | Stillwater, Okla. |
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GRAND CANYON
LOPES (41-20)
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vs. |
 MISSOURI STATE BEARS (30-28) |
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PITCHING PROBABLES |
| Saturday, June 4 • 10 a.m. (Phoenix time) Watch  • Live Stats RHP Nick Hull (7-1, 3.89)  vs. RHP Adam Link (6-5, 4.50) |
STILLWATER, Okla. – Grand Canyon entered the postseason with the best batting average in the Stillwater Regional, where they will need to flex that offense more Saturday to stay alive in it.
Outside a 3-for-4 game by junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar, the Lopes went 5 for 29 on Friday in a 7-1 NCAA tournament loss to Arkansas that put GCU in Saturday's elimination game against Missouri State. The Lopes play at 10 a.m. (Phoenix time) against the Bears, who lost 10-5 on Friday night to regional host Oklahoma State."We really wanted to keep scoring because you could just see they have some physicality in that lineup," Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said of GCU. "They can pop the ball."
Until Friday, the Lopes had scored four or more runs in 20 consecutive games with an average of 8.2 runs per game during that stretch. Razorbacks catcher Michael Turner called the offense "a little bit intimidating."
GCU will have to find a way to recapture that firepower Saturday against Missouri State graduate right-hander Adam Link, who pitched the Missouri Valley Tournament championship win that punched the Bears' NCAA tournament ticket. Link, a former Middle Tennessee State reliever, allowed two runs in six innings to beat Southern Illinois.
With 1-for-12 hitting when runners were in scoring position on Friday, the Lopes were unable to mount a comeback after Arkansas took a 5-0 lead in the first two innings.
"They matched our vibe," Aguilar said of the Razorbacks. "They were ready to go today. So were we. They just beat us to it. If we eliminated that four-spot in the second inning, it would've been a different ball club.
"We're going to come out hot tomorrow."
Missouri State, making its fourth NCAA regional appearance in eight years, brings a power-hitting lineup after hitting its 100th and 101st home runs of the season Friday against national No. 7 seed Oklahoma State. The Bears ranked 20th nationally in slugging percentage (.507) entering the tournament.
GCU graduate right-hander Nick Hull, the Lopes' season-long Friday night ace, has the task of slowing the Missouri State bats that have averaged 10.0 runs and hit .341 over the past five games. Hull is coming off one of his best outings of the season at the WAC Tournament, where he won by limiting Lamar to one run over seven innings with six strikeouts and one walk.
The Lopes are trying to avoid their first four-game losing streak of the season in order to record the program's first NCAA Division I tournament win.
"When you get to postseason baseball, all coaches get to the point where whatever has happened prior is over," Stankiewicz said. "Let's move forward."
Players Mentioned
OF
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