Wilson's homers fuel rally; Lopes lose in 10

Thursday, April 6

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

17-12, 8-5

Seattle U

8-18, 6-7

Seattle U

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

4/6/2023 9:30:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Seattle U breaks 10-game losing streak in series vs. GCU

By: Paul Coro

It took all game Thursday night for Grand Canyon baseball to form one of its greatest rallies in its Division I era, but the disappointment of digging an 8-0 hole and losing in extra innings lasted much longer.

GCU erased an 8-0 deficit for the first time in six years but lost 9-8 to Seattle U in 10 innings at GCU Ballpark, leaving the Lopes to lament leaving the bases loaded twice and not making more of career nights from junior left fielder Tyler Wilson and sophomore reliever Carson Ohl.

The Lopes (17-12, 8-5 WAC) trailed 8-0 after two innings for the first time since 2010 but came all the way back to tie the game at 8-8 on Wilson's career-high-tying sixth RBI in the eighth inning.

Seattle U senior Kai Alberghini hit a home run, his second of his career, to lead off the 10th inning and his freshman brother, Kaden, made the 9-8 lead stand from the mound for his first win with 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief. The Redhawks (8-18, 6-7 WAC) snapped a 10-game losing streak to GCU, where the Lopes will try to snap their three-game losing streak when the series continues at 6 p.m. Friday.

Phoenix, AZ April 6 : Grand Canyon University baseball drops their first of a three-game series 9-8 in extra innings against SeattleUniversity at GCU Ballpark. (Photo by: David Kadlubowski/GCU)

After Seattle U took an 8-0 lead on Lopes junior starting pitcher Connor Markl, Ohl entered for the final out of the second inning and threw a career-high 4 1/3 innings with one hit and no walks allowed. The sophomore right-hander retired the last 10 Redhawk batters he faced consecutively for his third consecutive shutout relief appearance.

"I just knew I had to come in and do my job, pound the zone and let the defense work," said Ohl, who threw strikes on 32 of 42 pitches. "The change-up was working. I was able to locate the fastball and get quick outs. I felt like I was rolling. Keeping the momentum on our side was the biggest part, and I felt like I did that."

Wilson started the scoring with the first of two home runs, his career's first multi-homer game, on a solo shot to right field in the second inning.

Following graduate second baseman Zack Gregory's first home run since belting two on Feb. 25 and junior first baseman Elijah Buries' double, Wilson worked out of an 0-2 count to send his at bat's ninth pitch over the right-center field wall and cut the lead to 8-4 in the fourth.

Phoenix, AZ April 6 : Grand Canyon University baseball drops their first of a three-game series 9-8 in extra innings against SeattleUniversity at GCU Ballpark.

"I've been working with Coach Jack (Wilson) going from Point A to Point B and not looping around to get the head out," Tyler Wilson said. "I saw some pitches I liked and put some good swings on them. I felt it click the third game at Utah Valley (on Sunday). I'm starting to get back on the right track."

GCU drew four walks in the bottom of the fifth to trim the lead to 8-5, but left the bases loaded. The Lopes stranded three again in the sixth inning without scoring after senior catcher Josh Buckley crushed a lead-off double off the center-field wall.

Junior right-hander Nathan Ward gave GCU another 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief, allowing the Lopes to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth with only one hit – Wilson's two-out bloop single to short center field to score freshman shortstop Emilio Barreras after Buries' RBI sacrifice fly.

The Lopes went 2 for 17 with runners on base and 1 for 11 against Redhawks left-handed reliever Cameron Dayton. GCU went in order in the bottom of the 10th after junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr.'s hot smash to the middle was gloved by diving shortstop Trevor Antonson, who popped up and threw Bush out.

"We got punched in the mouth pretty good early on," Tyler Wilson said. "Good teams, when they get punched in the mouth, they don't fold. They get back up and punch back. That's what we did. It's just unfortunate they got one more in the 10th, and we didn't, but I'm proud of the guys for fighting back down 8-0 in the first two innings. That's really hard to do. At bat by at bat and pitch by pitch, we clawed our way back."