Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, May 10
Stanford, Calif.
2 p.m.
Grand Canyon
30-20
10
at
6
Stanford
24-23
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5
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7
8
9
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H
E
Grand Canyon
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1
0
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10
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Stanford
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9
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Photo by: Josh Hauser
Late power surge leads to series win at Stanford
5/10/2025 6:03:00 PM | Baseball
Lopes homer 3 times in 6-run 8th to complete 2nd come-from-behind win against Cardinal
STANFORD, Calif. — Grand Canyon's bats roared to life late in the game to complete another come-from-behind win over Stanford on Saturday, clinching a big road series victory with a 10-6 win at Sunken Diamond.
Junior first baseman Zach Yorke etched his name into the GCU record books again with a solo home run in the eighth inning, giving him his 156th career RBI — surpassing Jacob Wilson's Division I program record of 155. He finished the day 2 for 4 with a double, homer, walk and two runs scored in another steady performance at the plate.
"Yorke takes such good at bats that you just know throughout the course of the game, throughout the course of the weekend, he's going to get into some balls," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "He's so consistent with his approach and his swing mechanics that good things are going to tend to happen for him."
Yorke's milestone blast capped a wild six-run eighth inning for the Lopes (30-20), who entered the frame trailing 6-4. That inning began with a lengthy battle at the plate from sophomore second baseman Billy Scaldeferri, who fought off five two-strike pitches before he launched a home run over the left-field wall to ignite the Lopes dugout.
"When there was one out in the eighth and they were up two after the big home run, he (Scaldeferri) battled, battled, battled, got a pitch that he just rode out of the yard," Wallis said. "I feel like that sparked that rally."
Scaldeferri's second home run of the year pulled GCU within a run. For the second straight night, junior shortstop Emilio Barreras turned clutch with late-game heroics. His single to center scored junior right fielder Josh Wakefield from second and tied the game at 6-6.
The power display continued with graduate center fielder Eddy Pelc hitting a two-run homer and Yorke's solo shot building a 9-6 lead. Sophomore designated hitter Cannon Peery chimed in with an RBI triple to cap the scoring.
Stanford (24-23) entered the weekend 15-3 in nonconference games with four-game series sweeps of Cal State Fullerton and Washington.
The 6-4 deficit was the second hill GCU had to climb in the game. The Lopes trailed 4-1 after five innings but erased the deficit with some pinch-hit magic.
After hits by Yorke and sophomore left fielder Carson Ohland, Lopes junior Cael Boever cleared the bases with a double to left-center that swiftly erased the 4-1 hole. It was Boever's first hit since March 14.
"Cael was having a good year, and then he went down with an injury for a while," Wallis said. "We noticed his batting practice has been really consistent and good. It looked like he was ready to contribute, and I was happy that he got that moment."
Pelc paced the GCU offense with a 3-for-5 day, while Peery added a double, triple and two RBIs. Barreras also delivered a two-hit day.
Junior right-hander Elijah Higginbottom tossed four innings of relief and picked up the win, improving to 5-0 on the season, before Walter Quinn closed the door in the ninth.
"We've played great defense, and even though we've given up some runs, we've minimized," Wallis said. "That's kept our offense in striking distance to where you feel the momentum. The guys are coming in and saying, 'Come on, we got this,' and they feel like they're in the ballgame."
The victory secured GCU's first series win over Stanford and continues a strong nonconference finish to the season. The Lopes' nonconference resume features a series sweep of Texas Tech, weekend series wins over Rutgers and Stanford, a midweek series win over Arizona, and single-game midweek wins over Nebraska, Oregon and Arizona State.
GCU and Stanford will close the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Cardinal's home finale.
Junior first baseman Zach Yorke etched his name into the GCU record books again with a solo home run in the eighth inning, giving him his 156th career RBI — surpassing Jacob Wilson's Division I program record of 155. He finished the day 2 for 4 with a double, homer, walk and two runs scored in another steady performance at the plate.
"Yorke takes such good at bats that you just know throughout the course of the game, throughout the course of the weekend, he's going to get into some balls," GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "He's so consistent with his approach and his swing mechanics that good things are going to tend to happen for him."
Yorke's milestone blast capped a wild six-run eighth inning for the Lopes (30-20), who entered the frame trailing 6-4. That inning began with a lengthy battle at the plate from sophomore second baseman Billy Scaldeferri, who fought off five two-strike pitches before he launched a home run over the left-field wall to ignite the Lopes dugout.
"When there was one out in the eighth and they were up two after the big home run, he (Scaldeferri) battled, battled, battled, got a pitch that he just rode out of the yard," Wallis said. "I feel like that sparked that rally."
Scaldeferri's second home run of the year pulled GCU within a run. For the second straight night, junior shortstop Emilio Barreras turned clutch with late-game heroics. His single to center scored junior right fielder Josh Wakefield from second and tied the game at 6-6.
The power display continued with graduate center fielder Eddy Pelc hitting a two-run homer and Yorke's solo shot building a 9-6 lead. Sophomore designated hitter Cannon Peery chimed in with an RBI triple to cap the scoring.
Stanford (24-23) entered the weekend 15-3 in nonconference games with four-game series sweeps of Cal State Fullerton and Washington.
The 6-4 deficit was the second hill GCU had to climb in the game. The Lopes trailed 4-1 after five innings but erased the deficit with some pinch-hit magic.
After hits by Yorke and sophomore left fielder Carson Ohland, Lopes junior Cael Boever cleared the bases with a double to left-center that swiftly erased the 4-1 hole. It was Boever's first hit since March 14.
"Cael was having a good year, and then he went down with an injury for a while," Wallis said. "We noticed his batting practice has been really consistent and good. It looked like he was ready to contribute, and I was happy that he got that moment."
Pelc paced the GCU offense with a 3-for-5 day, while Peery added a double, triple and two RBIs. Barreras also delivered a two-hit day.
Junior right-hander Elijah Higginbottom tossed four innings of relief and picked up the win, improving to 5-0 on the season, before Walter Quinn closed the door in the ninth.
"We've played great defense, and even though we've given up some runs, we've minimized," Wallis said. "That's kept our offense in striking distance to where you feel the momentum. The guys are coming in and saying, 'Come on, we got this,' and they feel like they're in the ballgame."
The victory secured GCU's first series win over Stanford and continues a strong nonconference finish to the season. The Lopes' nonconference resume features a series sweep of Texas Tech, weekend series wins over Rutgers and Stanford, a midweek series win over Arizona, and single-game midweek wins over Nebraska, Oregon and Arizona State.
GCU and Stanford will close the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Cardinal's home finale.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Higginbottom, Elijah (5-0)
L: Garewal, Sam (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Yorke, Zach 1 ; Peery, Cannon 1 ; Boever, Cael 1
3B: Peery, Cannon 1
HR: Pelc, Eddy 1 ; Yorke, Zach 1 ; Scaldeferri, Billy 1
RBI: Barreras, Emilio 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 2 ; Yorke, Zach 1 ; Peery, Cannon 2 ; Scaldeferri, Billy 1 ; Boever, Cael 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Wakefield, Josh 1 ; Barreras, Emilio 1 ; Pelc, Eddy 1 ; Yorke, Zach 2 ; Paton, Eli 2 ; Peery, Cannon 1 ; Ohland, Carson 1 ; Scaldeferri, Billy 1
SB: Wakefield, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: Sasaki, Rintaro 1
HR: Nati, Jimmy 2 ; Sasaki, Rintaro 1
RBI: Nati, Jimmy 4 ; Sasaki, Rintaro 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bates, Charlie 1 ; Marsh, Tatum 2 ; Nati, Jimmy 2 ; Sasaki, Rintaro 1
SB: Bates, Charlie 1
HBP: Marsh, Tatum 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball1B
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