Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, May 12
Edinburg, Texas
4:30 p.m. (MST)
Grand Canyon
32-19, 18-7
8
at
2
UT Rio Grande Valley
26-22, 12-13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
2
8
9
1
UT Rio Grande Valley
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
2
5
5
Lopes score in 7 innings to win opener
5/12/2023 7:57:00 PM | Baseball
Avitia picks up 7th win of season; GCU scores each inning except 4th, 8th
EDINBURG, Texas — Grand Canyon spread the wealth in its scoring opportunities on Friday night, plating runs in seven innings to cruise to an 8-2 victory at UT Rio Grande Valley.
GCU (32-19, 18-7 WAC) applied consistent pressure throughout the game, placing runners on base in every inning and scoring in all innings other than the fourth and eighth. The Lopes drew five walks, two hit batsmen and forced the Vaqueros into five errors.
"It was our commitment to putting the ball in play," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "We put the ball in play. We ran the bases aggressively. We got some key RBI hits and key RBI contact. It was pressure every inning. We put up a bunch of ones."
GCU sophomore starting pitcher Daniel Avitia collected his seventh win, combining with freshman Grant Richardson and junior Shawn Triplett to limit UTRGV to two runs on five hits. The Lopes have limited an opponent to five or fewer hits on four occasions in the last eight games.
Avitia immediately worked himself into trouble, allowing a walk and two hit batters to load the bases with no outs in the first. But the reigning WAC Pitcher of the Year seemingly flipped a switch, striking out the next three batters he faced to keep UTRGV scoreless in the first and set the tone for the remainder of the outing.
"It didn't start pretty, but Danny took a step forward when he hit adversity," Wallis said. "That's what we've been talking about ever since the midseason. It's taking a step forward and expecting good things to happen when we hit adversity. And that's exactly what Danny did. Three free passes, which is uncharacteristic of him, but he takes a step forward and goes strikeout, strikeout, strikeout. We roll from there."
Avitia went on to toss six innings and allow only one earned run.
"It's going to happen again," Wallis said of the Lopes handling the first-inning jam. "It's going to happen possibly tomorrow, it's going to happen next weekend against Cal Baptist, it's for sure going to happen in the tournament. We're for sure going to hit adversity, so we have to be confident that we can take a step forward in those moments."
GCU only faced one batter over the minimum in the final three innings because of the impressive relief work of Richardson and Triplett. The two combined for six strikeouts in three innings.
"Exactly what we had hoped for going to the bullpen," Wallis said. "They were aggressive in the strike zone with quality stuff. Rich coming into a big atmosphere like this. They had a ton of people here on the road. He was outstanding. Then Trip came in and that was some of the best stuff I've seen all year from any of our guys. Just really getting bad swings and striking out the side. The bullpen was awesome."
The Lopes won their ninth consecutive game and did it in front of 4,261 fans. It was a season-high attendance mark for the Vaqueros and their second-largest ever at UTRGV Baseball Stadium, where they have played since 2002.
GCU junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. opened the game with a leadoff walk and scored the first run on a double-play ball. Freshman first baseman Zach Yorke also reached base in the first, extending his reached-base streak to 31 games which is the longest by a Lopes batter since 2011.
Junior third baseman Elijah Buries singled to open the second and scored on a sacrifice fly by graduate second baseman Zack Gregory.
In the third, junior designated hitter Jacob Wilson singled to open the inning and scored on a Buries sacrifice fly. Wilson's third-inning knock marked the eighth and final hit in a string of eight consecutive at bats with a hit that dated back to April 30 in Reno, Nevada.
Yorke doubled to open the fifth and scored when senior catcher Josh Buckley reached on an error.
Gregory opened the sixth with a solo home run, grabbing the team lead with his ninth homer of the season.
In the seventh, Yorke walked to open the frame and scored on Buries' second infield single of the evening.
GCU's only multi-run inning came in the ninth, when the Lopes scored on two errors.
The series is set to continue Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time).
GCU (32-19, 18-7 WAC) applied consistent pressure throughout the game, placing runners on base in every inning and scoring in all innings other than the fourth and eighth. The Lopes drew five walks, two hit batsmen and forced the Vaqueros into five errors.
"It was our commitment to putting the ball in play," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "We put the ball in play. We ran the bases aggressively. We got some key RBI hits and key RBI contact. It was pressure every inning. We put up a bunch of ones."
GCU sophomore starting pitcher Daniel Avitia collected his seventh win, combining with freshman Grant Richardson and junior Shawn Triplett to limit UTRGV to two runs on five hits. The Lopes have limited an opponent to five or fewer hits on four occasions in the last eight games.
Avitia immediately worked himself into trouble, allowing a walk and two hit batters to load the bases with no outs in the first. But the reigning WAC Pitcher of the Year seemingly flipped a switch, striking out the next three batters he faced to keep UTRGV scoreless in the first and set the tone for the remainder of the outing.
"It didn't start pretty, but Danny took a step forward when he hit adversity," Wallis said. "That's what we've been talking about ever since the midseason. It's taking a step forward and expecting good things to happen when we hit adversity. And that's exactly what Danny did. Three free passes, which is uncharacteristic of him, but he takes a step forward and goes strikeout, strikeout, strikeout. We roll from there."
Avitia went on to toss six innings and allow only one earned run.
"It's going to happen again," Wallis said of the Lopes handling the first-inning jam. "It's going to happen possibly tomorrow, it's going to happen next weekend against Cal Baptist, it's for sure going to happen in the tournament. We're for sure going to hit adversity, so we have to be confident that we can take a step forward in those moments."
GCU only faced one batter over the minimum in the final three innings because of the impressive relief work of Richardson and Triplett. The two combined for six strikeouts in three innings.
"Exactly what we had hoped for going to the bullpen," Wallis said. "They were aggressive in the strike zone with quality stuff. Rich coming into a big atmosphere like this. They had a ton of people here on the road. He was outstanding. Then Trip came in and that was some of the best stuff I've seen all year from any of our guys. Just really getting bad swings and striking out the side. The bullpen was awesome."
The Lopes won their ninth consecutive game and did it in front of 4,261 fans. It was a season-high attendance mark for the Vaqueros and their second-largest ever at UTRGV Baseball Stadium, where they have played since 2002.
GCU junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. opened the game with a leadoff walk and scored the first run on a double-play ball. Freshman first baseman Zach Yorke also reached base in the first, extending his reached-base streak to 31 games which is the longest by a Lopes batter since 2011.
Junior third baseman Elijah Buries singled to open the second and scored on a sacrifice fly by graduate second baseman Zack Gregory.
In the third, junior designated hitter Jacob Wilson singled to open the inning and scored on a Buries sacrifice fly. Wilson's third-inning knock marked the eighth and final hit in a string of eight consecutive at bats with a hit that dated back to April 30 in Reno, Nevada.
Yorke doubled to open the fifth and scored when senior catcher Josh Buckley reached on an error.
Gregory opened the sixth with a solo home run, grabbing the team lead with his ninth homer of the season.
In the seventh, Yorke walked to open the frame and scored on Buries' second infield single of the evening.
GCU's only multi-run inning came in the ninth, when the Lopes scored on two errors.
The series is set to continue Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Avitia, Daniel (7-1)
L: Garza, Randy (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Yorke, Zach 1
HR: Gregory, Zack 1
RBI: Buries, Elijah 2 ; Gregory, Zack 2
SH: Barreras, Emilio 1
SF: Buries, Elijah 1 ; Gregory, Zack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bush Jr., Homer 1 ; Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Yorke, Zach 3 ; Buries, Elijah 2 ; Gregory, Zack 1
SB: Bush Jr., Homer 1 ; Wilson, Jacob 1
HBP: Bush Jr., Homer 1 ; Buckley, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: York, Kade 1
HR: Lancia, Steven 1
RBI: Lancia, Steven 1 ; Rodriguez, Damian 1
SF: Rodriguez, Damian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lancia, Steven 2
HBP: Lopez, Isaac 2 ; Pimentel, Brandon 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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LHP
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RHP
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