Regional return to Tucson puts GCU in spotlight

NCAA tournament \| Tucson Regional Friday, May 30 \| 6 p.m. \| Hi Corbett Field \| Tucson, Ariz.

	(1) #13 ARIZONA WILDCATS (36-21)	vs.	(4) GRAND CANYON LOPES (34-23)

RHP Clark Candiotti (7-3, 3.11) vs. LHP Grant Richardson (4-1, 4.03)
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TUCSON, Ariz. – The Grand Canyon baseball team's third arrival at Hi Corbett Field this season looked familiar Thursday, except for the touches of blue NCAA signage and patriotic bunting.

The stakes and atmosphere for GCU on Friday night will be drastically different, with a potential sellout at the 9,000-seat ballpark for the Lopes' 6 p.m. NCAA tournament game against host Arizona.

Tyler Wiilson

GCU enters its third regional appearance in four years with measured confidence, having routed Arizona 24-8 a month ago in a different midweek dynamic, and comfortable familiarity, playing its ninth game at Hi Corbett Field in four seasons.

"Now that we've got this opportunity again, we can just go in with a nothing-to-lose mindset," said Lopes left fielder Tyler Wilson, who started in the 2021 Tucson Regional along with senior teammates Elijah Buries and Cade Verdusco. "We're kind of just playing with house money. We can just go into this and try to have fun. When we have fun and relax, that's when we play our best."

After going 2-1 against Arizona in midweek games this season and 6-6 in the past four years, the Lopes face the Wildcats with weekend pitching for the first time since UA beat GCU 12-6 in a 2021 regional opener.

Lopes sophomore left-hander Grant Richardson will get the start against Wildcats graduate right-hander Clark Candiotti in a duel between pitchers who went to high school 5 miles apart in Scottsdale (Richardson at Horizon and Candiotti at Chaparral).

Since April 19, Richardson has taken on the role of Friday night starter that was intended for junior Daniel Avitia, who missed time with injury and has limited availability for the regional. With his mid-90s fastball and a slider, Richardson posted a 3.13 ERA over his past six starts and struck out 46 batters in 31 2/3 innings.

Pac-12 champion Arizona (36-21) hit .254 against left-handed pitchers this season.

"He has really good stuff and it's cool to see that when people around the country tune into this regional, we're going to be throwing a guy in Game 1 whose stuff is going to match up with anyone in the country," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said.

"I feel like we can match up with pretty much anybody when he's on the mound."

Candiotti, who is playing for his fifth college, pitched for a Canyon Thunder club at GCU Ballpark while growing up in Scottsdale as the son of Tom, a Diamondbacks broadcaster and former MLB pitcher. He was the Saturday night starter during the season, but he has been the most dominant in a rotation of three All-Pac-12 pitchers.

With a 3.11 ERA, Candiotti went 7-3 with 98 strikeouts in 89 2/3 innings pitched. In going with a low-walk pitcher, Hale praise how well GCU hits in two-strike counts after taking two losses this season to the Lopes. GCU ended an 11-game Wildcats winning streak with a 5-4 home win on April 16 and then scored the most runs of any UA opponent since 2000 in a 24-8, run-rule win on April 30.

"This will be different," Hale said of the regional matchup vs. three in-season meetings. "We'll face their supposed Friday night starter. We'll have our best pitcher going against them."

And Arizona will throw strikes, ranking first nationally for fewest walks per nine innings (2.5).

GCU admittedly tried to do too much in last week's WAC Tournament but gets the ultimate postseason do-over, courtesy of its WAC regular-season title earning the spot with tournament champion Tarleton State being ineligible in its Division I transition period.

"We like to say, 'We're back from the dead,' " Lopes senior third baseman Eli Paton said. "It's all house money from this point on, so might as well go win a couple games in the regional and see what we can do."

The Tucson Regional is considered the nation's toughest by many college baseball experts, and part of that comes from GCU having a 2-1 record against Arizona this season and No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist having a better RPI than Arizona and a 9-2 record against Quad 1 opponents. Dallas Baptist (44-13) plays West Virginia (33-22) at noon as the Mountaineers try to extend retiring coach Randy Mazey's career.

GCU is looking recapture the form that won 10 consecutive games to clinch the WAC, where it won every series. The Lopes are one of seven teams nationally with a top-30 batting average and top-30 ERA while boasting its all-time hits leader (Elijah Buries) and two hot hitters in Wilson (an active 25-game hitting streak, a GCU record) and sophomore shortstop Emilio Barreras (.389 since March 22).

"Playing good, clean baseball, whether it's attacking the zone from our pitchers, playing good defense and just putting together good at bats and not giving a single at bat away," Wilson said of what the Lopes will need this weekend. "That's when we can be our best. I think we're right there."

Lope tracks

Six current Lopes seniors were playing on the 2021 NCAA regional team. Elijah Buries, Cade Verdusco and Tyler Wilson started while Dustin Crenshaw pinch-hit and Carter Young pitched in relief. Bryan Webb did not pitch that regional, but he has thrown 2 1/3 perfect innings in two appearances against Arizona this season.
ESPN+ will broadcast the game with play-by-play announcer Mike Ferrin and analyst Jensen Lewis. The regional's noon game between Dallas Baptist and West Virginia will be shown on ESPN2.
Friday's losers and winners will face off Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, in the double-elimination format. The Tucson Regional winner will face the Chapel Hill Regional winner in a Super Regional.
Hale said Thursday that the coaching staff was "on the fence" about including injured starting outfielder Emilio Corona on the regional's 27-man roster.
GCU may be the most rested team in the nation with eight days between games. The Lopes' longest gap between games this season was five.
Arizona, picked ninth in the Pac-12 preseason poll, is making its fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for the first time since 1963.
Paton on making his first NCAA regional appearance in his final season: "The first two years when I was at UCLA, I was hurt and didn't make the postseason roster. That kind of put a chip on my shoulder. Being here today is honestly a dream come true. When I got here at GCU, that was the goal. Our next goal is to win the first regional game for GCU and continue that and win the regional."

NCAA tournament | Tucson Regional
Friday, May 30 | 6 p.m. | Hi Corbett Field | Tucson, Ariz.

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Lope tracks

Players Mentioned

Daniel Avitia

Emilio Barreras

Elijah Buries

Dustin Crenshaw

Eli Paton

Grant Richardson

Cade Verdusco

Bryan Webb

Tyler Wilson

Carter Young

Grand Canyon University Athletics