Bats come alive to push Arizona to 10 in loss

Tuesday, March 28

Tucson, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

15-9

Arizona

14-9

Grand Canyon

Arizona

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

3/28/2023 9:30:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Bush, Gregory deliver 2-double efforts from top of GCU lineup

By: Paul Coro

TUCSON – For every Arizona boom of a bat into the Tucson night sky on Tuesday night, Grand Canyon baseball kept peppering the Wildcats' will in workmanlike ways.

Nine singles, a season-high five doubles, six walks and two hit batsmen culminated in one big road rally that ended in a familiar Arizona result at Hi Corbett Field. The Wildcats won their 10th consecutive home game with their 10th run in the 10th inning.

Despite a 14-hit game, the Lopes (15-9) are on their first three-game losing streak of the season, with their first two extra-inning losses since 2019 and the three losses coming by a combined five runs.

"The at bats were a lot better from Sunday," Wallis said. "They were solid throughout the whole night. We didn't do enough to win, so that's disappointing, but a step forward from Sunday when we didn't swing well at all."

With the Wildcats (14-9) belting three of their four home runs in the first three innings, the Lopes rallied from that 5-2 hole to lead 9-8 entering the ninth inning. After failing to bring home runners on second and third bases with no outs in the top half, Arizona sent the game to extra innings and thrilled the remnants of a crowd of 3,064 fans with junior designated hitter Emilio Corona's walk-off single.

Tucson, AZ March 24: GCU drops their game against Arizona 10-9 in extra innings at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by: David Kadlubowski/GCU)

Arizona's only two four-home run games of the season have come against GCU, which has surrendered eight of the Wildcats' 32 home runs. They hit one homer in each of the first three innings before starter Carter Young's final inning and freshman left-hander Grant Richardson threw two shutout innings to keep the deficit at 5-2.

Richardson, the Phoenix Horizon High graduate, escaped an initial jam with a fifth-inning double play when junior right fielder Cade Verdusco caught a fly ball and threw out senior Nik McClaughry at home plate on a tag-up.

Richardson followed with a perfect inning, the Lopes' only one of the night.

"Big bright spot," Wallis said. "It didn't start how he wanted, but he got out of a big inning and came back with a clean second inning. That's a freshman pitching in a big environment. He just keeps getting better."

GCU took a 6-5 lead in the seventh inning, when the rally's scoring began with graduate second baseman Zack Gregory hitting his second double to score the first run and record his career's first two-double game. The Lopes followed with freshman designated hitter Zach Yorke's RBI single and Verdusco's go-ahead RBI sacrifice fly.

After falling behind on a three-run blast that was Arizona junior Chase Davis' fourth home run in two GCU games, Wildcats head coach Chip Hale was ejected arguing a check-swing strikeout to end the seventh inning with his team leading 8-6

The Lopes recaptured the lead in the top of the eighth after loading the bases on two hit batsman and a walk. Junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. doubled down the right-field line, scoring a pair to tie the game before Yorke made it a 9-8 GCU lead with a RBI sacrifice fly.

Tucson, AZ March 24: GCU drops their game against Arizona 10-9 in extra innings at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ.

Tucson, AZ March 24: GCU drops their game against Arizona 10-9 in extra innings at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, AZ.

"That's what we're about as a team," said Bush, who went 3 for 4 with his first career two-double game. "Coming off the last week we had, the biggest thing you want is to be competitive. You don't want to lose that competitive spirit. Although we lost tonight, it would've been really easy to go down early and give up. It was encouraging. There are things to take from every loss, and I'm happy with the way we fought."

In the top of the ninth, junior left fielder Tyler Wilson drew a leadoff walk on four pitches and sophomore first baseman Eli Paton doubled on a 1-2 pitch to right field.

But those runners were stranded after senior catcher Josh Buckley's ground out to third, freshman third baseman Emilio Barreras' bunted ground out to third and, after junior shortstop Jacob Wilson's second intentional walk, a fly out on a 3-1 pitch to Gregory.

"We had some confusion on the signs, which we have to clean up," Wallis said. "We've got to get those runners in. We had all the momentum and just gave away two at bats in a row and then had to try to get the big hit with two outs, and it didn't happen. We had a breakdown there when we had a chance to put the game away."

After the Hi Corbett Field sprinklers came on at 9 p.m., GCU again put two runners on base in the top of the 10th inning without scoring. A leadoff single by Jacob Wilson and a two-out single by Tyler Wilson were stranded. Jacob Wilson's 2-for-3 game pushed his batting average to .479, which ranks second in the nation.

In an eight-day span, the Lopes have gone 1-4 after losing a conference series for the first time since 2019 between losses at Arizona State and at Arizona.

"We have to lean on each other and not give up," Bush said. "We know how good we are, and we've been good throughout the year. It's baseball. You're going to take your losses. You never want to, but I think we've got the guys to come back from this past week."

The Lopes' three-game season series with the Wildcats concludes on May 2 at GCU Ballpark.

Arias brothers reunite

The pregame marked a chance for GCU freshman infielder Nick Arias to reunite with his brother, Arizona senior pitcher George Arias Jr.

The Tucson High School graduates joined their father, George Sr., for the pregame coaches meeting at home plate. George Sr. operates Centerfield Baseball and Softball Academy in Tucson, where he starred for the Wildcats in 1993 with 23 home runs, the second most in program history.

WAC play resumes

GCU, which is 6-3 in WAC play, returns to conference action this weekend with a series at Utah Valley (14-10, 2-2 WAC), which scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night to beat BYU. The Lopes have won five consecutive series against the Wolverines.