Thornton's 13 Ks carry Lopes in WAC opening win

Friday, March 10

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-4, 1-0

New Mexico State

0-11, 0-1

New Mexico State

Grand Canyon

3/10/2023 9:48:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Junior pitcher dominates; GCU scores late insurance runs in 6-1 win

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon baseball team began WAC play with a 6-1 win over New Mexico State at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark on Friday night.

The Lopes (9-4, 1-0 WAC) began their quest for a third consecutive WAC regular season title led by junior pitcher Zach Thornton's season-high 13 strikeouts in seven innings. The offense came from senior catcher Josh Buckley's home run in the second inning and four insurance runs in the eighth to seal the victory.

"First and foremost, what an outstanding performance from Zach Thornton," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "It starts with pitching and defense, Zach's seven innings with 13 strikeouts, what more could you want? That's how you set the tone at the start of the series."

Thornton was lights out from the very first batter, striking out the leadoff batter for New Mexico State (0-11, 0-1 WAC) in five pitches. His lone walk came in the next at bat and the GCU lefty was able to scatter three hits the rest of the way. He saved a run in the top of the third with a diving tag to get an Aggie runner out between third base and home plate after fielding a chopper.

"He's attacking; he's confident and he wants to push the pressure," Wallis added. "He works quick and throws strikes, it's fun to watch."

Thornton's season stat line now reads 38 strikeouts in 24 and two-thirds innings with only three runs allowed with two walks. His opponent batting average of .220 is the lowest among the qualified GCU starters this season, only surpassing Daniel Avitia's .229 mark with the sophomore right-hander slated to start Saturday's game.

"Outstanding pitching and outstanding defense," Wallis said. "Then in the eighth inning we scored four, after scoring a couple of runs early which was good. The bats came alive in the eighth with extra-base hits and some really good at bats."

GCU held a close 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. The runs for the Lopes came off the Buckley solo shot in the second inning and a sacrifice fly from junior designated hitter Tyler Wilson in the fourth. The Lopes could have scored more but grounding into a pair of doubles plays, along with base-running mistakes, left six runners on board to that point.

That all changed as the Lopes responded to the Aggies getting on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth. Graduate second basemen Zack Gregory hit the first pitch of the inning and drove deep into center for a triple. His middle infield partner, junior shortstop Jacob Wilson, hit a second-straight triple in the next at bat to score Gregory. After a walk by freshman first baseman Zach Yorke, junior outfielder Cade Verdusco doubled to right field that drove in Wilson to make it a 4-1 GCU lead.

Junior third baseman Elijah Buries provided the exclamation point two batters later with a single up the middle that scored Yorke and Verdusco. It was the first RBI of the season for Buries as he continues to ramp up from a preseason injury.

"We know Elijah is going to be there when it matters," Wallis said. "We're getting in the rhythm of the season, but it's only 12, 13 games in and Elijah was hurt for a portion of that. He's really been gutting it out and we know he'll be there as the season goes along. It was huge for him to get those couple of RBIs and those were big runs that scored."

Sophomore right hander Carson Ohl came out of the bullpen in the seventh and shut the door for his first save of the season. In two innings, Ohl had three strikeouts and allowed just one run to score while stranding a pair of Aggies in scoring position in the seventh.

Jacob Wilson collected three hits for his fifth multi-hit game of the season while Yorke reached base four times and extended his on-base streak to 11 games.

The Lopes will look for a series win on Saturday night. Avitia takes the mound in Game 2 starting at 6 p.m. at GCU Ballpark.