Completed Event: Baseball versus Cal State Fullerton on November 8, 2025 ,
Baseball
vs Cal State Fullerton
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, April 28
Bellevue, Wash.
11 a.m.
Grand Canyon
25-18, 16-5
20
at
5
Seattle U
12-31, 6-15
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
2
6
1
1
2
0
0
0
8
20
16
0
Seattle U
0
0
3
0
0
0
1
1
0
5
10
2
GCU completes sweep with 20-run effort
4/28/2024 2:46:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes score most runs since 2019; Pelc ties GCU D-I record with 9 RBIs
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Grand Canyon used a 20-run effort to put away Seattle U and cap off a series sweep of the Redhawks with a 20-5 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The Lopes (25-18, 16-5 WAC) scored six runs in the second inning and eight more in the ninth inning. It was GCU's biggest offensive output since scoring 25 runs in a win over Xavier on March 16, 2019.
GCU emerged from the weekend with its first series sweep since the first weekend of WAC play at Stephen F. Austin in early March. More importantly, the Lopes built a two-game lead in the conference standings on California and Abilene Christian.
"We talked about finishing off a series strong," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "I thought we played really good baseball the first two days. Today, Tyler Wilson in the leadoff spot, he sent a message to start the day. Loud contact on the first pitch of the game. I felt like that sent a message to the team of, 'Hey, we're locked in today.'
"We ended up scoring in the first five or six innings and finishing the game on a great note with a bunch of really good freshmen getting to come off the bench. It was just an all-around great day."
While eight different batters contributed to the Lopes' 16-hit day, senior center fielder Eddy Pelc was the highlight with three hits, 10 total bases, two home runs and nine RBIs. The RBI total tied Chad De La Guerra's mark from a 30-7 win over Bradley on Feb. 15, 2015, for the most by a GCU batter at the Division I level.
"I didn't even realize it was nine RBIs," Wallis said. "What he did that was amazing, his early at bats were picking up a teammate. It looked like we were in good situations, we didn't get it done, goes to two outs and Eddy picks us up. He had big momentum-sustaining at bats for us the whole day."
Junior third baseman Eli Paton led GCU with a four-hit day, collecting hits in each of his first four at bats. Sophomore first baseman Zach Yorke had three hits and three RBIs.
Pelc drew a first-inning hit by pitch to score a run. In the second, he hit a two-out grand slam to stake the Lopes to an 8-0 lead. He led off the fourth inning with a solo homer. In the fifth, he picked up more two-out RBIs with a double to right field to score two more. Finally, in the ninth inning, he hit a sacrficie fly to drive in another run.
As good as the offense was, freshman starting pitcher Connor Mattison matched the effort with his best start since his March 29 no-hitter. The righty tossed six innings of three-run baseball, earning his fifth win of the season. He walked two and struck out eight.
"It looks like he was back on track, throwing strikes," Wallis said. "That's what we were challenging Connor to continue to do. His change-up is so good, but so is his fastball. We're continuing to challenge him to establish the fastball. It was great to see him get back on it and pitch six strong innings."
GCU sent 13 batters to the plate in the ninth as it built on its large lead. That earned opportunities for freshmen Marcus Galvan (singled), Cooper Neville (walked) and Troy Sanders (cleared the bases with a three-run triple).
In addition to the Lopes' 16 hits, they drew 10 walks and four hit batsmen. Conversely, GCU's pitching trio of Mattison, senior Nathan Ward and freshman Hunter Watkins walked four and hit none.
As the stretch run continues, GCU will play its next eight games in Arizona including a midweek matchup at Arizona on Tuesday night.
The Lopes (25-18, 16-5 WAC) scored six runs in the second inning and eight more in the ninth inning. It was GCU's biggest offensive output since scoring 25 runs in a win over Xavier on March 16, 2019.
GCU emerged from the weekend with its first series sweep since the first weekend of WAC play at Stephen F. Austin in early March. More importantly, the Lopes built a two-game lead in the conference standings on California and Abilene Christian.
"We talked about finishing off a series strong," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "I thought we played really good baseball the first two days. Today, Tyler Wilson in the leadoff spot, he sent a message to start the day. Loud contact on the first pitch of the game. I felt like that sent a message to the team of, 'Hey, we're locked in today.'
"We ended up scoring in the first five or six innings and finishing the game on a great note with a bunch of really good freshmen getting to come off the bench. It was just an all-around great day."
While eight different batters contributed to the Lopes' 16-hit day, senior center fielder Eddy Pelc was the highlight with three hits, 10 total bases, two home runs and nine RBIs. The RBI total tied Chad De La Guerra's mark from a 30-7 win over Bradley on Feb. 15, 2015, for the most by a GCU batter at the Division I level.
"I didn't even realize it was nine RBIs," Wallis said. "What he did that was amazing, his early at bats were picking up a teammate. It looked like we were in good situations, we didn't get it done, goes to two outs and Eddy picks us up. He had big momentum-sustaining at bats for us the whole day."
Junior third baseman Eli Paton led GCU with a four-hit day, collecting hits in each of his first four at bats. Sophomore first baseman Zach Yorke had three hits and three RBIs.
Pelc drew a first-inning hit by pitch to score a run. In the second, he hit a two-out grand slam to stake the Lopes to an 8-0 lead. He led off the fourth inning with a solo homer. In the fifth, he picked up more two-out RBIs with a double to right field to score two more. Finally, in the ninth inning, he hit a sacrficie fly to drive in another run.
As good as the offense was, freshman starting pitcher Connor Mattison matched the effort with his best start since his March 29 no-hitter. The righty tossed six innings of three-run baseball, earning his fifth win of the season. He walked two and struck out eight.
"It looks like he was back on track, throwing strikes," Wallis said. "That's what we were challenging Connor to continue to do. His change-up is so good, but so is his fastball. We're continuing to challenge him to establish the fastball. It was great to see him get back on it and pitch six strong innings."
GCU sent 13 batters to the plate in the ninth as it built on its large lead. That earned opportunities for freshmen Marcus Galvan (singled), Cooper Neville (walked) and Troy Sanders (cleared the bases with a three-run triple).
In addition to the Lopes' 16 hits, they drew 10 walks and four hit batsmen. Conversely, GCU's pitching trio of Mattison, senior Nathan Ward and freshman Hunter Watkins walked four and hit none.
As the stretch run continues, GCU will play its next eight games in Arizona including a midweek matchup at Arizona on Tuesday night.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mattison, Connor (5-3)
L: Woodward, J (2-5)
Batting:
2B: Wilson, Tyler 2 ; Buries, Elijah 1 ; Paton, Eli 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1
3B: Sanders, Troy 1
HR: Pelc, Eddy 2
RBI: Sanders, Troy 3 ; Yorke, Zach 3 ; Paton, Eli 2 ; Pelc, Eddy 9 ; Galvan, Marcus 1
SF: Yorke, Zach 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Tyler 2 ; Buries, Elijah 3 ; Yorke, Zach 2 ; Paton, Eli 3 ; Diaz, Michael 2 ; Ankeney, Beau 1 ; Avila, Blake 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 2 ; Galvan, Marcus 1 ; Barreras, Emilio 2 ; Neville, Cooper 1
HBP: Buries, Elijah 1 ; Paton, Eli 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1 ; Barreras, Emilio 1
Batting:
RBI: Dayton, C 2 ; Tsoukalas, M 1 ; Stinnett, B 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kleckner, C 1 ; Gellos, D 1 ; Heiser, G 1 ; Tsoukalas, M 1 ; Stinnett, B 1
Game Leaders
AB
6
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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