Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, April 7
Moraga, Calif.
12 p.m.
Grand Canyon
16-15
3
at
4
St. Mary's
18-11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
3
7
1
Saint Mary's
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
1
4
11
0
Yorke, Avila force tie; GCU falls on walk-off
4/7/2024 3:34:00 PM | Baseball
Quiet offensive day awoken by back-to-back blasts in 9th; Saint Mary's walks off with series
MORAGA, Calif. — Grand Canyon sophomore Zach Yorke and junior Blake Avila teamed up for back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to tie Saint Mary's, but the Gaels responded with a two-out single to walk off with a 4-3 win and the series on Sunday afternoon.
The Lopes (16-15) were down to their last three outs and had managed just one run and five hits entering the ninth. But like in Saturday's game, GCU was ready for ninth-inning magic. Yorke worked an eight-pitch plate appearance before sending a no-doubt homer to right field to narrow the deficit to 3-2. A pinch-hitting Avila followed suit, carrying one out to right field on a 1-1 count to tie the score.
It was Avila's second pinch-hit home run of the season.
Looking to send the game to extra innings, GCU recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth. But Saint Mary's (18-11) used a sequence of single, single, walk and single to score the winning run to take the game 4-3 and the series 3-1. Two of the Gaels' ninth-inning hits came on two-strike counts, including the game-winner.
GCU was held without a hit through four innings before junior third baseman Eli Paton notched a fifth-inning single. Two innings later, Paton was the one to get the Lopes on the scoreboard with a double to drive in senior center fielder Eddy Pelc.
Senior Elijah Buries made program history on Sunday. With a sixth-inning double, Buries tied Jacob Wilson's mark of 224 hits for the most career hits in GCU's Division I era.
GCU pitching put the Lopes in position to win and force a series split. Entering Sunday, GCU was 14-0 when holding its opponent to four runs or fewer. Sophomore Isaac Lyon threw five innings of two-run baseball, striking out five and walking one. In relief, sophomore Walter Quinn threw 3 2/3 innings and was effective until reaching two outs in the ninth.
Of the Lopes' last five losses, four have come by two runs or fewer, including three by one run and two on walk-offs.
GCU returns home briefly for a Tuesday game against Arizona State at 6 p.m., when it will air on FOX 10 Xtra (Ch. 45/Cable 9) and stream on ESPN+.
The Lopes (16-15) were down to their last three outs and had managed just one run and five hits entering the ninth. But like in Saturday's game, GCU was ready for ninth-inning magic. Yorke worked an eight-pitch plate appearance before sending a no-doubt homer to right field to narrow the deficit to 3-2. A pinch-hitting Avila followed suit, carrying one out to right field on a 1-1 count to tie the score.
It was Avila's second pinch-hit home run of the season.
Looking to send the game to extra innings, GCU recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth. But Saint Mary's (18-11) used a sequence of single, single, walk and single to score the winning run to take the game 4-3 and the series 3-1. Two of the Gaels' ninth-inning hits came on two-strike counts, including the game-winner.
GCU was held without a hit through four innings before junior third baseman Eli Paton notched a fifth-inning single. Two innings later, Paton was the one to get the Lopes on the scoreboard with a double to drive in senior center fielder Eddy Pelc.
Senior Elijah Buries made program history on Sunday. With a sixth-inning double, Buries tied Jacob Wilson's mark of 224 hits for the most career hits in GCU's Division I era.
𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙-𝙩𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙩. 👀@EBuries doubles to the track and ties Jacob Wilson's record of 224 for hits in a GCU career at the D-I level. pic.twitter.com/9Ph6ijghKv
— Grand Canyon Baseball (@GCU_Baseball) April 7, 2024
GCU pitching put the Lopes in position to win and force a series split. Entering Sunday, GCU was 14-0 when holding its opponent to four runs or fewer. Sophomore Isaac Lyon threw five innings of two-run baseball, striking out five and walking one. In relief, sophomore Walter Quinn threw 3 2/3 innings and was effective until reaching two outs in the ninth.
Of the Lopes' last five losses, four have come by two runs or fewer, including three by one run and two on walk-offs.
GCU returns home briefly for a Tuesday game against Arizona State at 6 p.m., when it will air on FOX 10 Xtra (Ch. 45/Cable 9) and stream on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HOWEY, Preston (3-2)
L: Quinn, Walter (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Buries, Elijah 1 ; Paton, Eli 1
HR: Yorke, Zach 1 ; Avila, Blake 1
RBI: Yorke, Zach 1 ; Avila, Blake 1 ; Paton, Eli 1
SH: Buries, Elijah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yorke, Zach 1 ; Avila, Blake 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1
Batting:
2B: SCHMIDT, Coleman 1
HR: ALMANZA, Christian 1
RBI: ALMANZA, Christian 2 ; SCHMIDT, Coleman 1 ; TAUREK, Aiden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: NAPIER, Gavin 1 ; ALMANZA, Christian 1 ; HIRAYAMA, Hunter 1 ; SCHMIDT, Coleman 1
SB: SCHMIDT, Coleman 1
CS: METTAM, Jared 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
rf/2b
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
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RHP
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INF
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