Lopes drop finale at Utah Tech

Saturday, April 19

St. George, Utah

11 a.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

23-16, 10-5

Utah Tech

17-21, 3-9

Grand Canyon

Utah Tech

Photo by: Josh Hauser

4/19/2025 2:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

GCU's impressive streak of 21 consecutive WAC road series wins ends

By: Josh Hauser

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Grand Canyon dropped a road WAC series for the first time since 2019, falling 9-1 to Utah Tech in Saturday's rubber match series finale.

The Lopes (23-16, 10-5 WAC) were held scoreless until the seventh inning, when senior left fielder Michael Diaz tripled home sophomore designated hitter Cannon Peery for the team's lone run.

Despite the series loss, GCU remains atop the WAC standings at 10-5 alongside Utah Valley and Sacramento State. Three conference series remain for the Lopes including two (UT Arlington, Sacramento State) among an upcoming nine-game homestand that concludes the home schedule.

GCU freshman starter Gunnar Penzkover kept Utah Tech (17-21, 3-9 WAC) off the board for the first three innings.

The Trailblazers took a lead in the fourth and then plated five in the fifth.

Penzkover was charged with three earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. Freshman Billy Gregory, freshman Ross Clark and senior Barrett Skaugrud followed in relief, with all four GCU pitchers allowing at least one run.

Diaz and Peery were joined in the hit column by infielders Eli Paton, Emilio Barreras and Troy Sanders. The Lopes were held to six hits overall and left seven runners on base.

GCU's most recent WAC road series loss came at the hands of Sacramento State to conclude the 2019 regular season nearly six years ago.

The Lopes will host Arizona State on Tuesday at 7 p.m., opening a nine-game homestand that also includes games against UT Arlington, BYU, Sacramento State and Arizona.