Lopes cruise to mercy-rule win over Bearkats

Friday, March 24

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

15-6, 6-1

Sam Houston

13-10, 6-1

Sam Houston

Grand Canyon

3/24/2023 9:41:00 PM | Baseball

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GCU scores 7 runs in 1st inning, capitalizes on Sam Houston free passes

By: Josh Hauser

Grand Canyon drew 13 walks and capitalized on all the baserunning traffic in a 14-4, mercy-rule win over Sam Houston at GCU Ballpark on Friday night.

In a matchup of the WAC's two division champions from last season, GCU (15-6, 6-1 WAC) collected four walks and four hits in a seven-run first inning to jump out to the early lead. The Lopes scored in five of their six times at bat to cruise to a run-rule victory over Sam Houston (13-10, 6-1 WAC).

Lopes junior left-hander Zach Thornton tossed six innings and allowed four runs to improve to 4-0 on the season.

"When you have a Friday night guy on the mound and we put up seven, you feel in control," GCU pitching coach Nathan Bannister said. "That's a tough (Sam Houston) offense over there. I credit them with their two-strike approach. He was able to battle and limit, and he gave us a strong five and six. It was good for him to finish strong."

Thornton yielded a two-out walk in the top of the first inning but quickly ended the frame with a strikeout. He then turned the keys over to the GCU offense.

Junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. and graduate second baseman Zack Gregory — both boasting on-base percentages north of .400 — drew walks to open the bottom of the first. Freshman first baseman Zach Yorke stepped in and hit a no-doubt home run to right.

Four batters into the contest, the Lopes were staked to a 3-0 lead.

"We know we have a really good offense one through nine," Yorke said. "We just kept putting together team at bats and grinding out at bats in innings and kept scoring. We did what we had to do."

Senior catcher Josh Buckley laced a two-run double down the left field line, and Bush drove in another run on a double.

"It's awesome," Thornton said of the early GCU scoring. "Obviously, I want to get back out there and throw, but I'll very gladly take seven runs of insurance."

Sam Houston tried to climb its way back into the game with two runs on four hits in the third and two more runs on three hits in the fourth. The mid-game offense pulled the Bearkats within five at 9-4 through four innings.

That's when Thornton really hit his stride, using eight-pitch innings in the fifth and sixth innings to retire six of the seven batters he faced.

"He's exceeded our expectations to be honest," Bannister said. "We knew he was athletic and he was able to pound strikes. But just the daily commitment to his throwing program and his bullpen routine, he's always working on whether it's breaking balls or that fastball up in the zone. He's got a plan for his day and he's skyrocketing."

Thornton now has a 2.70 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings this season.

Sam Houston starting pitcher Coltin Atkinson also entered with gaudy numbers — a 3-0 record with a 1.82 ERA — in what was set to be a classic Friday night pitcher's duel. But Atkinson was pulled after one inning of work and lost for the first time this season.

GCU continued adding on with two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth to invoke the conference's mercy rule when a team leads by 10 through seven innings.

The Lopes exhibited patience at the plate by walking 13 times, their most in a game since drawing 17 walks on April 9, 2019, against Arizona.

Bush led GCU offensively with another three-hit night, upping his season average to a team-leading .476. He drove in two runs and scored two runs.

With a 1-0 series edge, the Lopes have more work to do when the series continues at 6 p.m. Saturday at 6 p.m. and noon Sunday at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.