Lopes top Lancers to clinch final series

Friday, May 19

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

35-19, 21-7

California Baptist

28-27, 15-14

California Baptist

Grand Canyon

5/19/2023 10:13:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

GCU logs 3 multi-run innings to notch 12th consecutive win

By: Josh Hauser

Grand Canyon clinched its final series of the regular season by defeating California Baptist 8-4 on Friday night at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.

The Lopes (35-19, 21-7 WAC) extended their win streak to 12 games and remained a half game back of first-place Sam Houston in the WAC standings. GCU holds the second-longest active winning streak in the nation to Oral Roberts, which has won 14 in a row.

"As you see, our guys are going out there, they're doing their thing, they're performing well," GCU junior shortstop Jacob Wilson said. "We've won 12 in a row. I don't think I remember the last time I won 12 games in a row. It's pretty rare. It's awesome to see these guys bear down and go out there and put up all these wins."

Wilson was one of two Lopes to break program records during Friday's victory. In his first at bat, Wilson logged his 218th career hit to break Austin Bull's Division I program record of 217 career hits.

"It was awesome," Wilson said. "Going out there, I knew the situation I was in. I wanted to go up there and put a good at bat together. Got the job done. It was a pretty cool feeling coming back to the dugout with all my teammates congratulating me. They push me to better each and every day. I keep going out there and playing for them. It's a pretty special team to be a part of."

Junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. also broke one of the program's D-I records, surpassing Preston Pavlica (2019) and Andrew McCormick (1995) for most stolen bases in a single season with 23. To boot, Bush's steal of third in the second inning forced a bad throw from California Baptist's catcher and allowed Bush to rush home for the Lopes' third run of the game. Bush was on base after his two-run double helped GCU jump in front after falling behind 1-0 early.

GCU steadily built on its lead with a two-run fourth inning and three-run fifth inning.

A Lancers fielding error in the fourth scored a pair and staked the Lopes to a 5-2 lead.

Senior catcher Josh Buckley delivered the final blow of the night with a two-out, three-run blast to left field to put GCU up 8-2. It was Buckley's fourth homer of the season.

"Beach balls, man," Buckley said. "The ball looks huge right now. That's a great feeling in baseball."

Buckley's blast came after CBU elected to intentionally walk sophomore third baseman Eli Paton ahead of Buckley to create a force at every base.

"It's a challenge," Buckley said. "It's a fun challenge. Anytime that happens, it shows that they're willing to throw to you before they throw to the guy in front of you. It's a challenge, and I was up for it."

Late in the year, pitching depth and fresh arms becomes key with the WAC Tournament approaching next week. GCU was able to use just two arms, thanks to the effectiveness of junior left-handers Zach Thornton and Connor Markl. Thornton tossed five innings of two-run baseball and picked up his ninth win. Markl finished with four more innings of two-run baseball and earned his first career save.

"We're a gritty group of guys, that's all I can really say," Thornton said. "(The season) started out not the way we wanted. We all knew we were underperforming on the year. I think we all just flipped a switch. We know we're supposed to be here. We know we belong in a regional, and that's what we're going to get."

The Lopes conclude the regular season with the series finale against California Baptist on Saturday at 12 p.m. at GCU Ballpark. Trailing WAC leader Sam Houston by one game, the Lopes need to win today and have the Bearkats lose at Tarleton today to be the regular-season champion.