Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, March 28
Phoenix, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
13-11, 7-3
4
vs
5
Sacramento State
11-15, 5-5
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Sacramento State
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
1
1
5
13
3
Grand Canyon
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
1
4
6
0
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Late rally falls 90 feet short in 5-4 loss
3/28/2024 9:01:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro
GCU's Young delivers 6-inning start for 5th consecutive game
After the Grand Canyon bats got off to a late start Thursday night, the Lopes will have to catch up on Friday and Saturday to win its ninth consecutive WAC series.
In its 5-4 series-opening win at GCU Ballpark, Sacramento State only allowed six hits with three of those coming during the Lopes' scramble in the eighth and ninth innings.
"The frustrating thing was I didn't feel we came to compete until our backs were against the wall," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "It seems like sometimes we wait until we get punched to respond. We waited too long tonight. If we want to be a championship team and play for a long time in June, we have to show up and be ready to fight from the first inning."
Three double plays wiped away GCU opportunities in the first, fourth and fifth innings, leading to a 4-1 hole entering the bottom of the eighth. Lopes junior pinch-hitter Blake Avila turned on a 2-1 off-speed pitch for a two-run, two-out double that cut the Hornets lead to 4-3 in the eighth.
Sacramento State (11-15, 5-5 WAC) picked up an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning, using three consecutive two-out singles to take a 5-3 lead.
GCU senior right fielder Elijah Buries, surging back at 9 for 19 in the last six games, jumped on the bottom of the ninth's first pitch for a double to left field and scored on closer Kade Brown's throwing error.
Lopes junior Maxwell Andeel, a pinch runner for sophomore Zach Yorke, moved to second base on the second out.
A check swing by junior designated hitter Beau Ankeney looked like it might end the game, but it rolled under Brown's glove. Andeel rounded third base for home before Hornets shortstop Gunner Gouldsmith recovered the ball behind the mound. Andeel pivoted to return to third but slipped and was thrown out as he crawled to third.
"I saw the ball kick up the middle, and I thought it kicked to no man's land," Wallis said. "I was wheeling Max. The shortstop came in and closed and, by the time I could stop Max, it was too late. Max didn't do anything wrong on that play. That was on me."
GCU (13-11, 7-3 WAC) was held to six hits or fewer for the sixth time this season after ending its Sunday series win at UT Rio Grande Valley with a 17-0 win.
Sacramento State right-handed starting pitcher Evan Gibbons entered with an 0-3 record and 7.11 ERA but only allowed three hits and one run over seven innings.
"He was keeping the ball down in the zone," Wallis said. "It was counter to what we've been working on. Our problem most of this year has been we hit too many fly balls. We've been working on hitting the ball at a lower trajectory. Tonight, it backfired on us because he was sinking the ball pretty well, and we couldn't make an in-game adjustment. We hit a lot of hard outs right at them, and we didn't take enough competitive at bats off him."
At the same time, GCU senior right-hander Carter Young was keeping the Lopes in the game. He delivered his fifth consecutive start of at least six innings, shutting out Sacramento State for the first five.
Feeling entrusted with the spot of injured ace Daniel Avitia, Young stranded four runners in scoring position over the first four innings. That included getting out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth with a high-heat strikeout and a fly ball. He now has 47 strikeouts in 40 innings this season with an ERA of 4.30.
GCU sophomore shortstop Emilio Barreras backed Young with defensive gems, throwing a runner out at third base and leaping backward toward shallow center field to catch a pop-up.
"I've been working with my pitching coach (Nathan Bannister) a lot, trying to really focus on a pre-pitch routine every pitch –  taking a breath," Young said. "We've worked a lot on off-speed command, and that's what is happening the most right now. Coach Bannister has really helped me a lot this year.
"It's great knowing I can trust my defense. They made some great plays behind me. It gives me a lot of confidence on the mound."
Sacramento State senior third baseman Jorge Bojorquez, a native of Nogales, Arizona, knocked in three runs with his first home run of the season.
The Lopes and Hornets meet again at 6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday at GCU Ballpark with the Lopes starting freshman right-hander Connor Mattison (3-1, 3.67 ERA) and sophomore right-hander Isaac Lyon (2-0, 4.43 ERA), respectively.
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In its 5-4 series-opening win at GCU Ballpark, Sacramento State only allowed six hits with three of those coming during the Lopes' scramble in the eighth and ninth innings.
"The frustrating thing was I didn't feel we came to compete until our backs were against the wall," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "It seems like sometimes we wait until we get punched to respond. We waited too long tonight. If we want to be a championship team and play for a long time in June, we have to show up and be ready to fight from the first inning."
Three double plays wiped away GCU opportunities in the first, fourth and fifth innings, leading to a 4-1 hole entering the bottom of the eighth. Lopes junior pinch-hitter Blake Avila turned on a 2-1 off-speed pitch for a two-run, two-out double that cut the Hornets lead to 4-3 in the eighth.
Sacramento State (11-15, 5-5 WAC) picked up an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning, using three consecutive two-out singles to take a 5-3 lead.
GCU senior right fielder Elijah Buries, surging back at 9 for 19 in the last six games, jumped on the bottom of the ninth's first pitch for a double to left field and scored on closer Kade Brown's throwing error.Lopes junior Maxwell Andeel, a pinch runner for sophomore Zach Yorke, moved to second base on the second out.
A check swing by junior designated hitter Beau Ankeney looked like it might end the game, but it rolled under Brown's glove. Andeel rounded third base for home before Hornets shortstop Gunner Gouldsmith recovered the ball behind the mound. Andeel pivoted to return to third but slipped and was thrown out as he crawled to third.
"I saw the ball kick up the middle, and I thought it kicked to no man's land," Wallis said. "I was wheeling Max. The shortstop came in and closed and, by the time I could stop Max, it was too late. Max didn't do anything wrong on that play. That was on me."
GCU (13-11, 7-3 WAC) was held to six hits or fewer for the sixth time this season after ending its Sunday series win at UT Rio Grande Valley with a 17-0 win.
Sacramento State right-handed starting pitcher Evan Gibbons entered with an 0-3 record and 7.11 ERA but only allowed three hits and one run over seven innings.
"He was keeping the ball down in the zone," Wallis said. "It was counter to what we've been working on. Our problem most of this year has been we hit too many fly balls. We've been working on hitting the ball at a lower trajectory. Tonight, it backfired on us because he was sinking the ball pretty well, and we couldn't make an in-game adjustment. We hit a lot of hard outs right at them, and we didn't take enough competitive at bats off him."
At the same time, GCU senior right-hander Carter Young was keeping the Lopes in the game. He delivered his fifth consecutive start of at least six innings, shutting out Sacramento State for the first five.Feeling entrusted with the spot of injured ace Daniel Avitia, Young stranded four runners in scoring position over the first four innings. That included getting out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth with a high-heat strikeout and a fly ball. He now has 47 strikeouts in 40 innings this season with an ERA of 4.30.
GCU sophomore shortstop Emilio Barreras backed Young with defensive gems, throwing a runner out at third base and leaping backward toward shallow center field to catch a pop-up.
"I've been working with my pitching coach (Nathan Bannister) a lot, trying to really focus on a pre-pitch routine every pitch –  taking a breath," Young said. "We've worked a lot on off-speed command, and that's what is happening the most right now. Coach Bannister has really helped me a lot this year.
"It's great knowing I can trust my defense. They made some great plays behind me. It gives me a lot of confidence on the mound."
Sacramento State senior third baseman Jorge Bojorquez, a native of Nogales, Arizona, knocked in three runs with his first home run of the season.
The Lopes and Hornets meet again at 6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday at GCU Ballpark with the Lopes starting freshman right-hander Connor Mattison (3-1, 3.67 ERA) and sophomore right-hander Isaac Lyon (2-0, 4.43 ERA), respectively.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gibbons, Evan (1-3)
L: Young, Carter (3-2)
S: Brown, Kade (4)
Batting:
2B: Masciangelo, Matt 3 ; Smith, JP 1 ; Valero, Cesar 1 ; Bojorquez, Jorge 1 ; Cortez, Jacob 1
HR: Bojorquez, Jorge 1
RBI: Smith, JP 1 ; Bojorquez, Jorge 3 ; Ott, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Masciangelo, Matt 1 ; Valero, Cesar 1 ; Kligman, Elie 1 ; Bojorquez, Jorge 1 ; Cortez, Jacob 1
Batting:
2B: Buries, Elijah 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1 ; Avila, Blake 1
RBI: Barreras, Emilio 1 ; Avila, Blake 2
SH: Sheehan, John 1
SF: Barreras, Emilio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Buries, Elijah 1 ; Ankeney, Beau 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 2
SB: Avila, Blake 1
CS: Buries, Elijah 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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1B
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RHP
/ BaseballGCU Baseball - WAC Tournament vs. Utah Tech - Highlights
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GCU Baseball - Eli Paton walk-off single vs. UTA
Saturday, April 26