Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, March 19
Tucson, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
11-9
4
at
6
Arizona
9-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
4
13
2
Arizona
4
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
X
6
12
0
Photo by: Wesley Kurz
Stranded runners cost Lopes in tight loss at Arizona
3/19/2024 9:45:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
GCU's Yorke posts 2nd consecutive 3-hit game; Watkins throws well again
TUCSON – Grand Canyon knocked out 13 hits and drew three walks Tuesday night at Arizona, proving that even a loss can be defined by opportunity.
The Lopes set their season high for men left on base in the first six innings (11) and wound up stranding 13 runners, which was all the more regrettable with the close margin of the Wildcats' 6-4 win in front of 3,011 fans at Hi Corbett Field.
The top four hitters in GCU's lineup went 9 for 19, but the Lopes (11-9) were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position to make its uphill climb steeper. Arizona (9-10) took a 4-0 lead in the first inning, and GCU never came closer than pulling within two in the fourth and eighth innings.
"When it comes to close games, it's usually execution that makes the difference," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "We'd like a couple of those execution at bats back when we didn't get the job done.
"It's another learning experience for us. If we want to win big games in conference and at the end of the year when you get a chance to execute with a runner on third and less than two outs or runner on second with nobody out, we have to really focus. Execution is critical."
GCU trailed 6-2 after four innings, but relievers Hunter Watkins, Walt Quinn and Shawn Triplett shut out the Wildcats over the next four innings to give the Lopes chances to climb back.
"You never want to lose, but the positive was we got some young guys some experience and they'll be ready for the weekend," Wallis said. "We got some of our back-end guys in a close ball game, and they did their jobs. There were some encouraging things on the mound to take out of a loss."
GCU started three of the next four innings with back-to-back singles but only produced two runs out of the chances. The Lopes followed two of those consecutive-hit, no-out situations with a strikeout.
Watkins was an encouraging highlight in keeping GCU close. Coming off two shutout, no-hit innings in his last outing at Stephen F. Austin, the 6-foot-8, right-handed freshman added two more shutout innings Tuesday night at Arizona.
The Simi Valley, California, native credited pitching coach Nathan Bannister for helping him be more competitive in the strike zone with his slider over the past two weeks.
"Everything's starting to click for me," Watkins said. "The first two games, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be super-perfect. I just reminded myself that it's the same game as when we were 8 years old and playing Wiffleball in the backyard. I just thought about that time and had fun pitching.
"I'm so excited to come pitch this weekend (at UT Rio Grande Valley)."
The Lopes struck out the Wildcats 10 times, giving the GCU pitching staff double-digit strikeouts in 14 of 20 games this season. But GCU batters struck out 13 times, tying the season high first set at UTSA on March 1.
Two streaks ended – senior left fielder Tyler Wilson's 12-game winning streak and the Lopes' six consecutive error-less games.
GCU junior third baseman Eli Paton went 2 for 4 with a walk to raise his batting average to .359. He hit in front of sophomore first baseman Zach Yorke, who posted his second consecutive 3-for-5 game, legged out his first career triple and drove a fly out to the center-field warning track with two men on base. He knocked in two runs, including a fourth-inning RBI single up the middle on an 0-2 count.
"Big Z is starting to swing the bat really well," Wallis said. "You could just see it Sunday (vs. Tarleton State). He got it going, and he continued it tonight. His batting practice was great, and he hit four balls hard to the middle of the field. That's big. If Big Z is going to swing the bat like that, there are a lot of good days ahead of us."
The Lopes will take a 5-1 start in WAC play to Edinburg, Texas, where a three-game conference series at UT Rio Grande Valley begins Friday.
The Lopes set their season high for men left on base in the first six innings (11) and wound up stranding 13 runners, which was all the more regrettable with the close margin of the Wildcats' 6-4 win in front of 3,011 fans at Hi Corbett Field.
The top four hitters in GCU's lineup went 9 for 19, but the Lopes (11-9) were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position to make its uphill climb steeper. Arizona (9-10) took a 4-0 lead in the first inning, and GCU never came closer than pulling within two in the fourth and eighth innings.
"When it comes to close games, it's usually execution that makes the difference," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "We'd like a couple of those execution at bats back when we didn't get the job done.
"It's another learning experience for us. If we want to win big games in conference and at the end of the year when you get a chance to execute with a runner on third and less than two outs or runner on second with nobody out, we have to really focus. Execution is critical."
GCU trailed 6-2 after four innings, but relievers Hunter Watkins, Walt Quinn and Shawn Triplett shut out the Wildcats over the next four innings to give the Lopes chances to climb back.
"You never want to lose, but the positive was we got some young guys some experience and they'll be ready for the weekend," Wallis said. "We got some of our back-end guys in a close ball game, and they did their jobs. There were some encouraging things on the mound to take out of a loss."
GCU started three of the next four innings with back-to-back singles but only produced two runs out of the chances. The Lopes followed two of those consecutive-hit, no-out situations with a strikeout.
Watkins was an encouraging highlight in keeping GCU close. Coming off two shutout, no-hit innings in his last outing at Stephen F. Austin, the 6-foot-8, right-handed freshman added two more shutout innings Tuesday night at Arizona.
The Simi Valley, California, native credited pitching coach Nathan Bannister for helping him be more competitive in the strike zone with his slider over the past two weeks.
"Everything's starting to click for me," Watkins said. "The first two games, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be super-perfect. I just reminded myself that it's the same game as when we were 8 years old and playing Wiffleball in the backyard. I just thought about that time and had fun pitching.
"I'm so excited to come pitch this weekend (at UT Rio Grande Valley)."
The Lopes struck out the Wildcats 10 times, giving the GCU pitching staff double-digit strikeouts in 14 of 20 games this season. But GCU batters struck out 13 times, tying the season high first set at UTSA on March 1.
Two streaks ended – senior left fielder Tyler Wilson's 12-game winning streak and the Lopes' six consecutive error-less games.
GCU junior third baseman Eli Paton went 2 for 4 with a walk to raise his batting average to .359. He hit in front of sophomore first baseman Zach Yorke, who posted his second consecutive 3-for-5 game, legged out his first career triple and drove a fly out to the center-field warning track with two men on base. He knocked in two runs, including a fourth-inning RBI single up the middle on an 0-2 count.
"Big Z is starting to swing the bat really well," Wallis said. "You could just see it Sunday (vs. Tarleton State). He got it going, and he continued it tonight. His batting practice was great, and he hit four balls hard to the middle of the field. That's big. If Big Z is going to swing the bat like that, there are a lot of good days ahead of us."
The Lopes will take a 5-1 start in WAC play to Edinburg, Texas, where a three-game conference series at UT Rio Grande Valley begins Friday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Heyne, Kyler (1-0)
L: Smith, Ben (0-2)
S: Hintz, Casey (2)
Batting:
3B: Yorke, Zach 1
RBI: Crenshaw, Dustin 1 ; Yorke, Zach 2 ; Wilson, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Crenshaw, Dustin 2 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Diaz, Michael 1
HBP: Pelc, Eddy 1
Batting:
2B: Morales, Richie 1 ; Caulfield, Garen 1
3B: White, Mason 1 ; Summerhill, Brendan 1
HR: Splaine, Tommy 1
RBI: Morales, Richie 1 ; White, Mason 2 ; Splaine, Tommy 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Morales, Richie 2 ; Caulfield, Garen 1 ; White, Mason 1 ; Splaine, Tommy 1 ; Summerhill, Brendan 1
SB: Breyfogle, Easton 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
UTIL
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