Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, February 24
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
4-2
13
vs
4
Gonzaga
1-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Gonzaga
0
1
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
4
7
4
Grand Canyon
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
11
X
13
10
1
Lopes break open game with 11-run 8th
2/24/2023 10:46:00 PM | Baseball
GCU improves to 2-0 on weekend with 13-4 win over Gonzaga
The saying "It's not over 'til it's over" was on full display at GCU Ballpark on Friday night, when the Lopes erased a 4-2 deficit with an 11-run eighth inning to defeat Gonzaga 13-4.
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The Lopes (4-2) were aided by a pair of early-inning errors by the Bulldogs (1-5), and they capitalized for 11 runs on seven hits. GCU junior shortstop Jacob Wilson provided the exclamation point with a three-run home run, his first of the season.
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"Hitting is contagious," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "Their starter (Owen Wild) did a great job again. It was another guy that came into the game with more strikeouts than innings pitched last year, and he did a great job for seven (innings). We got into the bullpen, and the hitting became contagious."
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Freshman third baseman Emilio Barreras started the eighth inning by getting on base on a fielding error and advanced to third on a single up the middle by sophomore center fielder Homer Bush Jr. GCU second baseman Zack Gregory attempted to move both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt but he ended up reaching base on a throwing error that scored Barreras to cut Gonzaga's lead to 4-3.Â
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The inning snowballed from there. Junior designated hitter Tyler Wilson gave GCU a 6-4 lead with a two-run triple that came after Wilson tied the game with a sacrifice fly, the inning's first out. Senior catcher Josh Buckley, Bush Jr. and Gregory added five runs on three singles and Wilson capped the inning with his first home run of the year.
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"It all started with a great at bat by Emilio and Homer with a two-strike gritty at bat," Wallis added. "It just kind of rolled from there. When Jacob tied it up with a sac fly, it felt like we were going to have a big inning and it just kept going."
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Before the eighth, the Lopes bats were held in check by Wild, as he scattered three hits with six strikeouts and allowed two runs, one of them earned. Those GCU runs came in the second inning off a sacrifice fly from freshman first baseman Zach Yorke and a Tyler Wilson RBI single in the fourth.
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GCU sophomore Daniel Avitia took the mound in his first start of the season, going 3 2/3 innings and striking out five with two walks. Behind him, the bullpen kept the Bulldogs in check by allowing just three hits and two runs across 5 1/3 innings.
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Juniors Nathan Ward (in his GCU debut), Shawn Triplett and Tyson Heaton all had scoreless outings, scattering two hits and two walks in the final four innings.
"I told the team that is was Shawn Triplett and Nathan Ward coming in the middle of the game and throwing up zeros," Wallis added. "They allowed no big innings that kept us right into the game, to where in the eighth and ninth, our offense got going and we were able to win the game. It was still pitching and defense that gave us the opportunity to win that game."
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The Lopes will square off against Gonzaga and Ohio State in a Saturday doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m. at GCU Ballpark.
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The Lopes (4-2) were aided by a pair of early-inning errors by the Bulldogs (1-5), and they capitalized for 11 runs on seven hits. GCU junior shortstop Jacob Wilson provided the exclamation point with a three-run home run, his first of the season.
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"Hitting is contagious," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "Their starter (Owen Wild) did a great job again. It was another guy that came into the game with more strikeouts than innings pitched last year, and he did a great job for seven (innings). We got into the bullpen, and the hitting became contagious."
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Freshman third baseman Emilio Barreras started the eighth inning by getting on base on a fielding error and advanced to third on a single up the middle by sophomore center fielder Homer Bush Jr. GCU second baseman Zack Gregory attempted to move both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt but he ended up reaching base on a throwing error that scored Barreras to cut Gonzaga's lead to 4-3.Â
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The inning snowballed from there. Junior designated hitter Tyler Wilson gave GCU a 6-4 lead with a two-run triple that came after Wilson tied the game with a sacrifice fly, the inning's first out. Senior catcher Josh Buckley, Bush Jr. and Gregory added five runs on three singles and Wilson capped the inning with his first home run of the year.
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"It all started with a great at bat by Emilio and Homer with a two-strike gritty at bat," Wallis added. "It just kind of rolled from there. When Jacob tied it up with a sac fly, it felt like we were going to have a big inning and it just kept going."
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Before the eighth, the Lopes bats were held in check by Wild, as he scattered three hits with six strikeouts and allowed two runs, one of them earned. Those GCU runs came in the second inning off a sacrifice fly from freshman first baseman Zach Yorke and a Tyler Wilson RBI single in the fourth.
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GCU sophomore Daniel Avitia took the mound in his first start of the season, going 3 2/3 innings and striking out five with two walks. Behind him, the bullpen kept the Bulldogs in check by allowing just three hits and two runs across 5 1/3 innings.
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Juniors Nathan Ward (in his GCU debut), Shawn Triplett and Tyson Heaton all had scoreless outings, scattering two hits and two walks in the final four innings.
"I told the team that is was Shawn Triplett and Nathan Ward coming in the middle of the game and throwing up zeros," Wallis added. "They allowed no big innings that kept us right into the game, to where in the eighth and ninth, our offense got going and we were able to win the game. It was still pitching and defense that gave us the opportunity to win that game."
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The Lopes will square off against Gonzaga and Ohio State in a Saturday doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m. at GCU Ballpark.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Triplett, Shawn (1-0)
L: HAAS, REAGAN (1-1)
Batting:
2B: KALMER, BRIAN 1 ; STEM, SAM 1
HR: MCGEE, CADE 1
RBI: MCGEE, CADE 2 ; STEM, SAM 1 ; JOHNSEN, TY 1
Base Running:
RUNS: COBALLES, CONNOR 1 ; MCGEE, CADE 1 ; KALMER, BRIAN 1 ; EISENSTAT, TOMMY 1
Batting:
3B: Wilson, Tyler 1
HR: Wilson, Jacob 1
RBI: Bush Jr., Homer 2 ; Gregory, Zack 1 ; Wilson, Jacob 4 ; Wilson, Tyler 3 ; Yorke, Zach 1 ; Buckley, Josh 1
SF: Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Yorke, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bush Jr., Homer 2 ; Gregory, Zack 2 ; Wilson, Jacob 2 ; Verdusco, Cade 2 ; Wilson, Tyler 1 ; Paton, Eli 1 ; Buckley, Josh 1 ; Barreras, Emilio 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballGCU Baseball - WAC Tournament vs. Utah Tech - Highlights
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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