Friday night late-game drama yields Lopes win

Friday, February 21

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-2

Rutgers

2-2

Rutgers

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Jack Gilday

2/21/2025 8:48:00 PM | Baseball

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Rutgers' 3-run 8th tied score; GCU responds with game-winning run in 8th

By: Josh Hauser

Grand Canyon opened a four-game set by scoring an eighth-inning, go-ahead run to edge Rutgers 7-6 on Friday night at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.

The Lopes (3-2) took a lead in the third inning and built it to as large as 6-3 through seven innings, but one Rutgers swing of the bat tied the score on a bases-clearing double in the top eighth.

GCU responded in the bottom half of the same frame, stringing together three consecutive two-out singles.

The third was off the bat of sophomore second baseman Troy Sanders, and despite a great diving stop by Rutgers second baseman Pablo Santos, a desperation throw to first got away to allow Lopes sophomore catcher Marcus Galvan to sneak under the catcher's tag for the go-ahead score.

GCU senior right-hander Walter Quinn closed out the victory with a 1-2-3 ninth for his first victory of the season.

"It was a close, hard-fought Friday night baseball game," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "They had good arms on the mound, and they're a good team, good program.

"A three-run lead against anybody, but especially a good program, is a couple of things away from being a ballgame. So they fight back in the game, but then we come right back with two outs and score. Then Walter closes it down. It's great. That's why we play great opponents early because it's just going to continue to make us battle-tested as the season goes along."

GCU built its lead largely from the work of leadoff hitter Emilio Barreras. The junior shortstop raised his season average to .450 after a three-hit, three-RBI night, which included a no-doubt solo home run in the third and a two-out, two-run single in the sixth.

"Three hits, three RBIs and a couple of really big ones," Wallis said. "The home run off their starter, who was throwing 100 miles an hour, which was incredible. He just stayed short and rode one out of the yard. And then the big two-out, two-strike hit. He just stayed with it and shot a ball into the hole and scored two. He's taking short swings, and he's using his experiences. Batting practice swings are translating over to the game, and it's great."

Rutgers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but GCU scored the next four runs to start building its lead.

The Lopes' first lead came on Barreras' third-inning homer. Senior third baseman Eli Paton followed later in the inning with a two-out base knock that drove in two to stake the Lopes to a 4-1 lead.

After the Scarlet Knights narrowed the deficit to 4-3 with one-run frames in the fourth and sixth, Barreras' sixth-inning hit gave the Lopes room to breathe.

Rutgers went to work in the eighth with a leadoff double and a one-out hit batsman and walk. With the bases loaded, the Lopes turned to Quinn, but he was greeted by a bases-clearing double from freshman third baseman Nick Tomasetto to tie the score at 6-6.

GCU got its run back in the bottom of the eighth. It started with promise on a leadoff single by junior designated hitter Cael Boever before a double play emptied the bases. The three consecutive two-out singles came from Galvan, Barreras and Sanders to reclaim the lead.

Junior right-hander Isaac Lyon was in line for the win before Rutgers' late comeback. He tossed six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

"He battled," Wallis said. "He kept us in the game. I still wouldn't say that he had his best stuff, command-wise. He's always just going to battle and keep us in the ballgame. And when he's on, he's going to be unhittable. So I still don't think we've seen his best start yet, and that's OK because it's early. But he's going to compete every time on Friday night. He's going to give us a chance to win, and that's exactly what he did."

The four-game series with Rutgers continues on Saturday with a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. with the second game to follow 45 minutes after the first game ends. GCU is scheduled to send a pair of sophomore right-handers to the mound in Garrett Ahern and Connor Mattison.