Vet-laden team keeps sights set high

Friday, February 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Vanderbilt

Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo

2/12/2025 10:06:00 AM | Baseball, Paul Coro

GCU Notes

GCU returns 5 position starters, top pitcher from regional finalist

By: Paul Coro

When Grand Canyon defeated two top-25 teams to reach its first NCAA regional final last June, the driving forces have remained as familiar around GCU Ballpark in recent months as the grind to ascend to that status again.

Eddy Pelc and Zach Yorke combined for 17 hits in four Tucson Regional games. Emilio Barreras went 4 for 8 in the upset wins. Michael Diaz and Eli Paton each reached base every game. Isaac Lyon shut out No. 15 Arizona over three innings for the ace's first save.

Gregg Wallis

The Lopes upperclassmen are more than talented. They are standard bearers for a program chasing its fifth consecutive WAC regular-season championship and fourth regional trip in five years when the season starts with a 6 p.m. Friday game against No. 16 Vanderbilt at GCU Ballpark. The sold-out opener, which will broadcast on MLB Network, starts a nonconference schedule ranked as the 15th toughest in the nation.

"I think we're hungry," said Lopes third-year head coach Gregg Wallis, who has coached at GCU since 2014. "We have veteran leadership with guys who want to take the next step. The focus has been outstanding. I feel we're very prepared going into the season. It doesn't mean we're going to win, but we picked up from playing that regional against great teams and saw where we need to improve to be elite. We're carrying it over. We're game ready right now."

As GCU opens the season with four games in four days and top-25 visitors on Friday and Monday (No. 24 Nebraska), the Lopes bring a lineup with five returning starters from the regional team, three sophomores who experienced it and former Washington starter Carson Ohland.

"Wally says, 'The speed of the leaders is the speed of the practices,' " Barreras said of Wallis. "The way we practice and prepare helps everyone realize we need to do the same thing as last season and even better. When we're put back in that position, we're not sped up or caught by surprise. The way we've been preparing has been a realization for everybody that we can do the same thing. Nothing really changes."

The rotation

The lefthanded-heavy lineup and sharp defensive infield are a promising way to start with Lyon back atop the rotation. The right-handed junior from Utah earned All-WAC first-team honors last season, when he went 6-1 with a 3.97 ERA and showed great command.

Isaac Lyon

Lyon splits the plate on batters with a four-pitch mix of two-season fastballs and change-ups going one way and sliders and cutters heading another against batters. He improved each purposeful pitch this offseason.

"From freshman year to sophomore year, everything got better and it's the same going into his junior year," Wallis said. "The velocity's up, but more than that, his movement plots. He's throwing four different pitches that have different shapes to them or different speeds to them.

Sophomore right-hander Garrett Ahern, a Valley product from Campo Verde High School, earned another starting spot with consistency and a low-90s fastball at 6 feet 5. He went 4-0 last season with a long-relief win against Arizona State.

"He's strong and very durable," Wallis said. "He will be a great option to go Saturday. He's been a great emergence for us."

The Lopes lost top-end arms in junior left-hander Grant Richardson, junior right-hander Brock Toney and freshman right-hander Max Charles to offseason surgeries but bolstered its rotation depth with the addition of junior left-hander Chance Key, who helped Des Moines Area Community College to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II World Series. His arsenal, featuring a sinker, complements Lyon well.

"He's fearless and is a nice change of pace to Isaac," Wallis said. "He seems very in control. The moment's not going to be big. He's going to do what he does. If they beat him, they beat him, but it's not going to be because he backed off."

GCU sophomore right-hander Connor Mattison brought high-end moments with a filthy change-up that helped him record the Lopes' first no-hitter since 1982 and a team-best 80 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. The Canyon View High School graduate went 6-5 with a 5.67 ERA.

The bullpen

The GCU relief corps is led by junior Walter Quinn, a sidearm right-hander who posted a WAC-low 2.22 ERA in 22 appearances and takes on the roles of stopper or closer.

Right-handers Jace Smith, a junior coming back from an injury redshirt season, and Cam Cunnings, a Fresno City College closer, fortify the back end of the bullpen with a trio of freshmen showing promise

Ross Clark's developing breaking ball, Billy Gregory's slider with a 90 mph fastball and pitcher/outfielder Gunnar Penzkover's athleticism and whip-action arm give them a chance to make an impact. Sophomore Ben Smith, a 6-7 southpaw, is coming off injury and an 11-appearance freshman season.

The lineup

The Opening Night lineup will not require a deep dive from Lopes fans to learn the regulars.

Paton and Barreras

Barreras, at shortstop, and Paton, at third baseman, solidify the left side and give the infield three Preseason All-WAC pick with first base manned by Yorke, a Preseason All-America second-teamer by Baseball America. After 20 appearances last season, skilled Tucson native Troy Sanders takes over at second base after offseason growth.

"The best teams I've ever been around, the left-side defense is really strong," Wallis said.

Each made a massive uptick offensively season too, with Barreras hitting .399 from March 22 on and Paton having a season with .319 hitting .509 slugging and 41 RBIs.

Yorke has accumulated 19 home runs and 111 RBIs with .324 hitting, a .429 on-base percentage and .512 slugging but is looking to recapture 2023 form.

"I expect him to step into a leadership role," Wallis said. "There was some adversity in the fall and January, but I think he's going to grow up from it. I've challenged him on his maturity. If he can approach the game with maturity, he's an incredible player.

"I want him to focus on team baseball and let his talents speak."

Eddy Pelc

Pelc, another All-WAC first-team selection, was the Tucson Regional star but did not get drafted despite hitting .352 with 50 RBIs and outstanding defense that puts him in center field this season.

"He's got a healthy chip on his shoulder," Wallis said. "Him and Eli have a focus on putting professional baseball and draft focus out of their minds and focusing on getting this program to the next level. That's what I've been most proud of. It's not about them. It's about how they can leave a legacy of leading us to a new height."

The corners will be a mix of Diaz, a senior from Phoenix, and sophomore Cannon Peery, a sophomore from Peoria, alternating between left field and designated hitter while Ohland takes over in right field. Junior Josh Wakefield, a Mountain Ridge High School graduate like Peery and Yorke, was pushing Ohland until he injured his thumb on a scrimmage diving play.

"Diaz has been pretty consistent," Wallis said. "He hit .370 with five homers in 100 at bats last season. If gets 200, he's capable of hitting over .300 with double-digit home runs. He's matured. He's physical. He's a presence in the lineup."

Ohland, a switch hitter, batted .281 in 37 starts for Washington last season and heads into the season on an upswing. Junior Dom Chacon has been hurt since the summer but shows potential after stops at Arizona State and South Mountain Community College.

Behind the plate

Sophomore Marcus Galvan takes over the primary catcher role and gives GCU the potential of seven left-handed batters in the lineup. He went 6 for 17 in limited action last season and played a strong fall and January.

He is backed up by junior Brody Sexton, a Chandler native who played at Iowa Western Community College, and Arizona transfer Kade Huff, a Scottsdale native and Horizon High School graduate like Chacon. Huff was slowed by injury and could play a designated hitter and pinch-hitting role after belting a team-best six home runs in the fall.

The Lopes will be tested in nonconference play through mid-March with 13 of their first 20 games against teams that finished last season in the national top 100.

"I feel like we've got the toughest schedule we've ever put together," Wallis said. "If we could continue to grow, we could be really strong come April, May, June."

The program reached its first NCAA regionals in 2021 and 2022 and won its first regional games last year but remain hungry to enhance the stature of a program heading to the Mountain West Conference.

"What we did at the regional was pretty historic as a program," Barreras said. "That weight is off our shoulders. Now, hopefully, we make another historic run and go to a Super Regional. The experience we got there was very beneficial for all of us and the incoming guys know we can be in that spot again this year. All the guys are excited, and we're ready for what's to come."