GCU holds Baylor to 1 hit in nonconference finale

Tuesday, May 9

Waco, Texas

4:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

31-19

Baylor

16-31

Grand Canyon

Baylor

5/9/2023 8:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Lopes win 8th straight, toss their 1st 1-hitter since March 2020

By: Josh Hauser

WACO, Texas — Six Grand Canyon pitchers combined to limit Baylor to one hit as the Lopes recorded their eighth straight victory Tuesday night in their nonconference finale at Baylor Ballpark.

Control issues plagued the Lopes in the ninth inning as GCU walked four batters and hit another, resulting in Baylor's only two runs. Lopes graduate right-hander Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis made a critical pitch on a full count to strike out the game's final batter looking, strand the bases loaded, clinch the 4-2 win and earn his fifth save of the season.

"It got interesting at the end, but Brodie made a big pitch," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "We pitched great all night. We knew coming into it that it was going to be an offensive day. The park wasn't playing offensive in batting practice. So it was really going to be about trying to manufacture runs, pitching and playing defense. We did that for the most part. We were getting squeezed a bit in the ninth and sometimes that will happen on the road. Nothing was easy at the end, but Brodie made a big pitch when he needed to."

Lopes starter Connor Markl and relievers Grant Richardson, Hunter Omlid, Carson Ohl, Walt Quinn and Cooper-Vassalakis combined to toss the one-hitter. GCU limited an opponent to one hit for the first time since March 3, 2020, vs. New Mexico, when Cooper-Vassalakis also contributed. Baylor was held to one hit for the first time since March 9, 2019, vs. Nebraska.

GCU had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning before the Bears' opened the frame with a ground-ball single up the middle for their only hit of the night.

Markl got the Lopes going in the right direction, starting the game with two scoreless, hitless innings with four strikeouts. While Ohl allowed the only hit, he matched Markl with four strikeouts. All six Lopes pitchers had at least one strikeout on the staff's 13-strikeout night.

On a humid night in Waco, the Lopes were limited to four hits. But GCU took advantage of three errors and four walks and scored on productive outs.

"It was about manufacturing runs today," Wallis said. "We knew that coming in. We saw the way the ball was not jumping off the bat like it normally does for both teams. The air was heavy, there are storms in the area. We were going to have to manufacture today. That's why we bunted, we ran, and then Homer (Bush Jr.) was big. That was a big knock to extend it to four runs. Great job by Homer."

Reigning WAC Hitter of the Week Zach Yorke wasted no time extending his reached-base streak to 30 games by drawing a walk to lead off the second. He moved to second on a single by sophomore left fielder Maxwell Andeel, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI groundout from junior third baseman Elijah Buries.

"Zach might not have had any hits tonight, but his at bats were incredible," Wallis said. "Not just the walk, but he smoked two balls. He hit the two hardest-hit balls of the night, it just happened to be at someone. Zach continued to have great at bats all night."

Holding a 1-0 lead entering the fifth, the Lopes reeled off three consecutive one-run innings.

In the fifth, junior designated hitter Tyler Wilson led off with a single and scored on a ground ball from Bush.

Junior right fielder Cade Verdusco walked to open the sixth and scored when Baylor's pitcher couldn't cleanly field Wilson's ground ball.

Capping the night, Bush singled into left-center field to score freshman shortstop Emilio Barreras from second.

The Lopes did not commit an error for the sixth consecutive game, the longest such streak in over five years.

GCU won a game with fewer than five hits for the first time since May 21, 2021, vs. California Baptist.

The Lopes are set for the third and final leg of their Texas road trip, heading south for a three-game series at UT Rio Grande Valley beginning on Friday night. At 17-7 in WAC play, GCU trails leader Sam Houston by one game with six conference games remaining for each team.