Completed Event: Baseball at Stanford on May 9, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 3
Baseball
at Stanford
W 4-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, May 22
Mesa, Ariz.
1 p.m.
Grand Canyon
31-26
5
vs
7
Sacramento State
32-24
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
3
0
5
11
0
Sacramento State
0
0
2
0
3
0
2
0
X
7
11
0
Photo by: Jayden Todd
Day loss sends Lopes to evening elimination game
5/22/2025 4:00:00 PM | Baseball
After 7-5 loss to Sac State, GCU must win vs. UT Arlignton to stay in WAC Tournament
MESA, Ariz. – Grand Canyon rallied at the WAC Tournament again Thursday afternoon, but this one fell short to give the Lopes a return trip to the WAC Tournament on Thursday night.
The Lopes (31-26) used the eighth inning for another comeback, although it was not enough to keep top-seeded Sacramento State from a 7-5 win that sent GCU to an elimination game at Hohokam Stadium. The Lopes will play UT Arlington in a game scheduled for 7 p.m. but will likely start later after an Abilene Christian-Utah Tech elimination game.
After using a five-run eighth to get a comeback win against Utah Tech on Wednesday night, the Lopes tightened their 1 p.m. game Thursday when junior left fielder Josh Wakefield delivered a three-run double to trail 7-5. GCU loaded the bases with a leadoff walk by junior first baseman Cael Boever before sophomore second baseman Troy Sanders and senior pinch-hitter Maxwell Andeel reached base on a walk and infield single, respectively.
Wakefield jumped on the first pitch he saw for his first WAC Tournament hit, sending the pitch to left field with a kick in the grass getting it by Hornets left fielder Myles Watson.
With GCU junior right-hander Cam Cunnings' two shutout innings, the Lopes took another crack at the Hornets' 7-5 lead in the ninth. Facing WAC saves leader Kade Brown, the Lopes put graduates Eddy Pelc and Eli Paton on by walks with nobody out. Brown picked up his 14th save by striking out Boever, getting senior left fielder Michael Diaz to fly out to deep right field and inducing a game-ending grounder out by junior designated hitter Carson Ohland.
"We would've liked it to be a little bit cleaner, but we're the heart-attack Hornets, so we held on," Sacramento State head coach Reggie Christianen said.
The Lopes matched the Hornets with 11 hits, led by Wakefield and Boever with two apiece. However, Sacramento State was 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position while GCU was 3 for 15.
GCU loaded the bases in the first inning, fueled by Pelc's double to deep right-center field, and came away with a run on a Diaz's full-count walk.
Lopes sophomore right-hander Connor Mattison allowed two runs over four innings in a five-strikeout, 69-pitch outing, his highest pitch count of the season.
GCU senior left-handler Gray Bailey relieved Mattison to open the fifth inning but had to leave due to injury after a four-pitch walk, hit batsman and 3-1 single. That opportunity became a three-run inning and 5-1 lead for Sacramento State.
Before the eighth-inning rally, the Lopes shaved one run off the lead in another opportunity that could have been more. A Boever single, a Diaz walk and an Ohland single on a 1-2 pitch loaded the bases with nobody out, but Sacramento State traded a Lopes run for two outs with a Sanders double-play grounder.
GCU faced its Thursday night opponent, UT Arlington, in an April 25-27 series at GCU Ballpark, where the Lopes won two of three games.
Lopes sophomore right-hander Garrett Ahern (6-4, 6.03 ERA) will start Saturday night against UT Arlington. He is coming off a loss at Tarleton State but held the Mavericks to two runs over seven innings when he faced UT Arlington on April 26, when he struck out eight batters and walked none.
Sacramento State (32-24) advances to the winner's side of the WAC Tournament semifinals on Friday, when the Hornets will play Utah Valley at 3 p.m.
The Lopes (31-26) used the eighth inning for another comeback, although it was not enough to keep top-seeded Sacramento State from a 7-5 win that sent GCU to an elimination game at Hohokam Stadium. The Lopes will play UT Arlington in a game scheduled for 7 p.m. but will likely start later after an Abilene Christian-Utah Tech elimination game.
After using a five-run eighth to get a comeback win against Utah Tech on Wednesday night, the Lopes tightened their 1 p.m. game Thursday when junior left fielder Josh Wakefield delivered a three-run double to trail 7-5. GCU loaded the bases with a leadoff walk by junior first baseman Cael Boever before sophomore second baseman Troy Sanders and senior pinch-hitter Maxwell Andeel reached base on a walk and infield single, respectively.
Wakefield jumped on the first pitch he saw for his first WAC Tournament hit, sending the pitch to left field with a kick in the grass getting it by Hornets left fielder Myles Watson.
With GCU junior right-hander Cam Cunnings' two shutout innings, the Lopes took another crack at the Hornets' 7-5 lead in the ninth. Facing WAC saves leader Kade Brown, the Lopes put graduates Eddy Pelc and Eli Paton on by walks with nobody out. Brown picked up his 14th save by striking out Boever, getting senior left fielder Michael Diaz to fly out to deep right field and inducing a game-ending grounder out by junior designated hitter Carson Ohland.
"We would've liked it to be a little bit cleaner, but we're the heart-attack Hornets, so we held on," Sacramento State head coach Reggie Christianen said.
The Lopes matched the Hornets with 11 hits, led by Wakefield and Boever with two apiece. However, Sacramento State was 5 for 12 with runners in scoring position while GCU was 3 for 15.
GCU loaded the bases in the first inning, fueled by Pelc's double to deep right-center field, and came away with a run on a Diaz's full-count walk.
Lopes sophomore right-hander Connor Mattison allowed two runs over four innings in a five-strikeout, 69-pitch outing, his highest pitch count of the season.
GCU senior left-handler Gray Bailey relieved Mattison to open the fifth inning but had to leave due to injury after a four-pitch walk, hit batsman and 3-1 single. That opportunity became a three-run inning and 5-1 lead for Sacramento State.
Before the eighth-inning rally, the Lopes shaved one run off the lead in another opportunity that could have been more. A Boever single, a Diaz walk and an Ohland single on a 1-2 pitch loaded the bases with nobody out, but Sacramento State traded a Lopes run for two outs with a Sanders double-play grounder.
GCU faced its Thursday night opponent, UT Arlington, in an April 25-27 series at GCU Ballpark, where the Lopes won two of three games.
Lopes sophomore right-hander Garrett Ahern (6-4, 6.03 ERA) will start Saturday night against UT Arlington. He is coming off a loss at Tarleton State but held the Mavericks to two runs over seven innings when he faced UT Arlington on April 26, when he struck out eight batters and walked none.
Sacramento State (32-24) advances to the winner's side of the WAC Tournament semifinals on Friday, when the Hornets will play Utah Valley at 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gibbons, Evan (10-2)
L: Mattison, Connor (2-1)
S: Brown, Kade (14)
Batting:
2B: Wakefield, Josh 2 ; Pelc, Eddy 1
RBI: Wakefield, Josh 3 ; Diaz, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Barreras, Emilio 1 ; Boever, Cael 2 ; Sanders, Troy 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 1
SB: Sanders, Troy 1
Batting:
2B: Masciangelo, Matt 1
RBI: Pimentel-Guerrero, L 2 ; Smith, JP 1 ; Poturnak, Jakob 4
SH: Perazzo, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: White, Tyler 1 ; Masciangelo, Matt 2 ; Pimentel-Guerrero, L 2 ; Walton, Myles 1 ; Perazzo, Michael 1
SB: Perazzo, Michael 1
HBP: Masciangelo, Matt 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
LHP
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/ Baseball
RHP
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OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF/LHP
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