Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, April 22
Phoenix, Ariz.
6:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
22-17, 13-7
10
vs
4
Utah Tech
9-29, 4-13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Utah Tech
0
2
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
4
11
3
Grand Canyon
0
0
0
0
0
2
8
0
X
10
10
2
Wilson gets hit No. 200 with go-ahead grand slam
4/22/2023 9:24:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes clinch home series against Utah Tech behind 8-run 7th
Grand Canyon junior shortstop Jacob Wilson's 200th career hit was a momentum-shifting, go-ahead grand slam that clinched the WAC series from Utah Tech in a 10-4 win on Saturday night at GCU Ballpark.
"He threw me that slider on the first pitch for a strike," Wilson said. "I knew he was going to go back to that at some point. Came out, looked good, got a good swing on it. Put some runs on the board when we were down. It was pretty awesome moment for me to go up there and 200 hits like that. It's pretty awesome. Helping my team win is the No. 1 priority."
Wilson's third home run of the season (two grand slams) was the beginning of an eight-run seventh inning that not only erased the Utah Tech lead but built a healthy 10-4 GCU lead.
"What a way to get his 200th career hit," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "Not only is it a home run, a grand slam where we're down two in a game that didn't look like it was going our way, but it's also his 200th career hit. I don't think there could have been a better moment. He's obviously had a storied career here at GCU, but that was pretty special."
The Lopes' seventh-inning outburst was ignited by a controversial missed call at home plate that extended Utah Tech's lead to 4-2 at the time. With runners at the corners, the Trailblazers attempted a double steal and the Lopes had the runner tagged out and called out at home plate before the call was reversed.
"It got us fired up," Wallis said. "We thought we had an out at the plate, and we made a nice play to do it. A well-executed, first-and-third play. ZG (graduate second baseman Zack Gregory) threw a strike to Buck (senior catcher Josh Buckley), and we thought we had an out. The umpire didn't see it that way, but it did fire us up. We came out, and it felt like we were extremely focused to put together an inning."
GCU (22-17, 13-7 WAC) loaded the bases on singles by junior infielder Elijah Buries and Gregory before junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. was hit by a pitch. Wilson's grand slam reversed a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead.
The Lopes went back to work after the grand slam, with freshman first baseman Zach Yorke drawing a walk and sophomore left fielder Maxwell Andeel homering to left to stake GCU to an 8-4 lead. The inning was capped off on a rare wild pitch that escaped far enough from home plate to score two Lopes.
GCU improved to 7-2 in games where it hit multiple home runs. The Lopes also matched their grand slam total from last season by hitting their third of the season.
It was not all smooth sailing for the Lopes, who struggled to put rallies together against Utah Tech starter Carster Herman. GCU had only three hits through the first five innings and had not scored.
The tide turned the Lopes way in the sixth inning with back-to-back singles from Bush and Wilson scoring on back-to-back productive outs to pull GCU within a run at 3-2.
"Third time through," Wallis said. "Their pitcher was pitching great. We then got some pitches to hit. Third time through is always tough (for a pitcher). Our hitters locked in."
On the mound, GCU used juniors Carter Young, Connor Markl and Shawn Triplett to advance through the game. Young pitched the first 4 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out six. Markl tossed 3 1/3 innings of one-run baseball and was the winning pitcher. Triplett closed things out with a three-up, three-down ninth.
Now two games out of first place in the WAC, the Lopes look for a series sweep and will send left-hander Zach Thornton to the mound for a noon first pitch at GCU Ballpark.
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"He threw me that slider on the first pitch for a strike," Wilson said. "I knew he was going to go back to that at some point. Came out, looked good, got a good swing on it. Put some runs on the board when we were down. It was pretty awesome moment for me to go up there and 200 hits like that. It's pretty awesome. Helping my team win is the No. 1 priority."
Wilson's third home run of the season (two grand slams) was the beginning of an eight-run seventh inning that not only erased the Utah Tech lead but built a healthy 10-4 GCU lead.
"What a way to get his 200th career hit," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "Not only is it a home run, a grand slam where we're down two in a game that didn't look like it was going our way, but it's also his 200th career hit. I don't think there could have been a better moment. He's obviously had a storied career here at GCU, but that was pretty special."
The Lopes' seventh-inning outburst was ignited by a controversial missed call at home plate that extended Utah Tech's lead to 4-2 at the time. With runners at the corners, the Trailblazers attempted a double steal and the Lopes had the runner tagged out and called out at home plate before the call was reversed.
"It got us fired up," Wallis said. "We thought we had an out at the plate, and we made a nice play to do it. A well-executed, first-and-third play. ZG (graduate second baseman Zack Gregory) threw a strike to Buck (senior catcher Josh Buckley), and we thought we had an out. The umpire didn't see it that way, but it did fire us up. We came out, and it felt like we were extremely focused to put together an inning."
GCU (22-17, 13-7 WAC) loaded the bases on singles by junior infielder Elijah Buries and Gregory before junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. was hit by a pitch. Wilson's grand slam reversed a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead.
The Lopes went back to work after the grand slam, with freshman first baseman Zach Yorke drawing a walk and sophomore left fielder Maxwell Andeel homering to left to stake GCU to an 8-4 lead. The inning was capped off on a rare wild pitch that escaped far enough from home plate to score two Lopes.
GCU improved to 7-2 in games where it hit multiple home runs. The Lopes also matched their grand slam total from last season by hitting their third of the season.
It was not all smooth sailing for the Lopes, who struggled to put rallies together against Utah Tech starter Carster Herman. GCU had only three hits through the first five innings and had not scored.
The tide turned the Lopes way in the sixth inning with back-to-back singles from Bush and Wilson scoring on back-to-back productive outs to pull GCU within a run at 3-2.
"Third time through," Wallis said. "Their pitcher was pitching great. We then got some pitches to hit. Third time through is always tough (for a pitcher). Our hitters locked in."
On the mound, GCU used juniors Carter Young, Connor Markl and Shawn Triplett to advance through the game. Young pitched the first 4 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out six. Markl tossed 3 1/3 innings of one-run baseball and was the winning pitcher. Triplett closed things out with a three-up, three-down ninth.
Now two games out of first place in the WAC, the Lopes look for a series sweep and will send left-hander Zach Thornton to the mound for a noon first pitch at GCU Ballpark.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Markl, Connor (3-1)
L: Jacob Taggart (0-3)
Batting:
RBI: Blake Borgogno 2
SH: Tyson Fisher 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ethan He 1 ; Mathew Ivancich 1 ; Zach Thomas 1 ; Chase Rodriguez 1
SB: Mathew Ivancich 1 ; Parker Schmidt 1 ; Chase Rodriguez 1 ; Cayden Clark 1
Batting:
HR: Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 1
RBI: Wilson, Jacob 4 ; Yorke, Zach 1 ; Verdusco, Cade 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 2
SH: Wilson, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bush Jr., Homer 2 ; Wilson, Jacob 2 ; Yorke, Zach 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 1 ; Wilson, Tyler 1 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Buckley, Josh 1 ; Gregory, Zack 1
SB: Wilson, Tyler 1 ; Buries, Elijah 1
HBP: Bush Jr., Homer 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
UTIL
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
UTIL
/ Baseball
RHP
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