Completed Event: Baseball versus UNLV on April 11, 2026 , Win , 6, to, 1
Baseball
vs UNLV
W 6-1
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Sunday, April 19
Phoenix, Ariz.
12 p.m.
Grand Canyon
14-25, 6-9
16
vs
12
Air Force
18-20, 9-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 2 |
| Grand Canyon | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 16 | 16 | 4 |
Photo by: Josh Cale
Down 8-0, Lopes launch 5 homers for historic rally
4/19/2026 5:25:00 PM | Baseball
Cunnings' 6 brilliant relief innings make for comeback of century
Grand Canyon only stands four rows of steps down from Brazell Field when inside its GCU Ballpark dugout, but it could have felt like a sinkhole in the first inning Sunday.
Air Force's bats were working like shovels, putting the Lopes in an 8-0 hole. If GCU climbs out of its Mountain West standing position like it did Sunday's gorge, this Lopes season might have new life that sprung from rallying to beat second-place Air Force 16-12 in a historic, series-clinching win.
GCU (14-25, 6-9 MW) charged back from an eight-run deficit to victory for the first time since 2017 against UT Rio Grande Valley and for the first time in a regulation-length game in more than 30 years.
"Don't play the scoreboard," Lopes head coach Nathan Bannister said. "Obviously, that dictates what we want to do in the game, but we don't want to give up at bats. We don't want to have sloppy mistakes in the field, and that's going to happen. But we really want to challenge ourselves mentally to make sure that we're focused for every pitch. If we do that, our talent's going to take over.
"If we compete like that the rest of the season, I see a lot of bright future for this team."
From behind the 8-ball, the Lopes rallied like no team this century with five home runs, their most since 2022, and 16 runs, their most this season.
But in a game of 28 runs, it was a GCU pitcher that shined most. Senior right-hander Cam Cunnings allowed one run over six relief innings, two more than his high over two Lopes seasons.
Cunnings efficiently attacked the zone with strikes on 52 of his 73 pitches, using his fastball and slider to keep Air Force (18-20, 9-6 MW) to five hits without a walk.
"He felt in control," Bannister said. "Whether they got the lead-off guy on or not, he was able to string some outs together, and he did a nice job of that. We wanted to give him the ball when the game's on the line, and we thought that was earlier in the game. He gave our offense a chance to bring us back."
GCU trailed 11-8 when Cunnings entered in the fourth inning, and he just gained strength. The 6-foot-1 native of Fresno, California, retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced.
"I told Banni earlier this week, 'I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get us a win,' " Cunnings said. "We had a rough start to this year, so whatever I can do to win the game. If that's giving us six innings or if that's giving us one batter, I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
"The slider was good. I was just hitting my spots. It's easy to pitch when you've got a great defense behind you making plays."
Lopes starter Cody Kiemele did not record an out in the first inning before leaving with the Falcons leading 4-0 and loading the bases. Junior reliever Tommy McGuire struck out the first two batters he faced, but Air Force sophomore Kayden Bradshaw belted a first-pitch grand slam for his third home run of the season.
GCU immediately whittled at the 8-0 lead, getting a two-out, three-run home run in bottom of the first when junior first baseman Cannon Peery crushed a fastball 411 feet to left-center field for his sixth home run of the season. Peery is batting .500 (12 for 24) over the past seven games with four doubles and a homer.
"I was trusting that things were going to come around," said Peery, a graduate of Mountain Ridge High School in nearby Glendale. "Just simplifying and putting together good at bats and trusting that good results are going to come.
"It was huge to get some momentum, and it kind of made us believe that we could win that game, for sure. Everyone else kind of piled on, and we had a lot of big performances from everyone."
The power surge continued in the second inning, when junior left fielder Carson Ohland led off with a 378-foot homer to right and the five-run inning was capped with a deep RBI sacrifice fly by sophomore second baseman Jake Sanko and a game-tying, three-run home run to center by junior designated hitter Trevor Schmidt.
"I always think hitting is contagious," said Schmidt, who has a seven-game hitting streak of .400 batting (12 for 30 with four home runs). "When one guy hits, a lot follow. Last night, I struck out in a big moment. I really wanted to have a good today and get my revenge back. I was pretty locked in for that at bat."
With four errors in the first three innings and none thereafter, GCU still fell back 11-8 in the third inning but were leading for good before the fifth inning ended.
Graduate catcher Mito Perez knocked the Air Force lead down to 11-10 when he guided a breaking ball over the left-center field wall following a two-out Sanko triple off the left-center field wall.
An inning later, the biggest blast of them all came from freshman third baseman Jose Lopez III, who launched a 2-0 pitch across 35th Avenue for a game-tying, 437-foot home run – his fifth of the season.
Lopez set up a five-run inning, including the go-ahead RBI single coming with junior center fielder Griffin Cameron smacking a 1-2 pitch to left field. Seven GCU hitters collected at least two hits Sunday, as the Lopes scored half of their runs with two outs.
"Being able to absorb an eight-run deficit in the first really shows the character of this team and what we can do, especially when we play nine innings," Bannister said.
The win tied GCU with UNLV for seventh place in the Mountain West, where the top six teams will advance to the postseason tournament in Mesa. The Lopes are a half-game behind sixth-place San José State (5-7), which will catch up on conference games at Air Force next weekend while the Lopes are idle in conference play. GCU will then go to San José for a May 1-3 series.
During its conference break, GCU will finish its homestand with Kansas State at 1 p.m. Tuesday, BYU on April 27 and Arizona on April 28.
After a 1-5 start in MW play, the Lopes have won two of their last three conference series and have nine remaining MW games with a postseason chance in sight.
"That's something that we want to continue to hunt down," Bannister said. "That's what's exciting about this opportunity is that the teams in front of us, we have a chance to pluck down. And if we play good baseball, if we play our brand, we'll be in a good spot."
Air Force's bats were working like shovels, putting the Lopes in an 8-0 hole. If GCU climbs out of its Mountain West standing position like it did Sunday's gorge, this Lopes season might have new life that sprung from rallying to beat second-place Air Force 16-12 in a historic, series-clinching win.
GCU (14-25, 6-9 MW) charged back from an eight-run deficit to victory for the first time since 2017 against UT Rio Grande Valley and for the first time in a regulation-length game in more than 30 years.
"Don't play the scoreboard," Lopes head coach Nathan Bannister said. "Obviously, that dictates what we want to do in the game, but we don't want to give up at bats. We don't want to have sloppy mistakes in the field, and that's going to happen. But we really want to challenge ourselves mentally to make sure that we're focused for every pitch. If we do that, our talent's going to take over.
"If we compete like that the rest of the season, I see a lot of bright future for this team."
From behind the 8-ball, the Lopes rallied like no team this century with five home runs, their most since 2022, and 16 runs, their most this season.
But in a game of 28 runs, it was a GCU pitcher that shined most. Senior right-hander Cam Cunnings allowed one run over six relief innings, two more than his high over two Lopes seasons.
Cunnings efficiently attacked the zone with strikes on 52 of his 73 pitches, using his fastball and slider to keep Air Force (18-20, 9-6 MW) to five hits without a walk.
"He felt in control," Bannister said. "Whether they got the lead-off guy on or not, he was able to string some outs together, and he did a nice job of that. We wanted to give him the ball when the game's on the line, and we thought that was earlier in the game. He gave our offense a chance to bring us back."
GCU trailed 11-8 when Cunnings entered in the fourth inning, and he just gained strength. The 6-foot-1 native of Fresno, California, retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced.
"I told Banni earlier this week, 'I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get us a win,' " Cunnings said. "We had a rough start to this year, so whatever I can do to win the game. If that's giving us six innings or if that's giving us one batter, I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
"The slider was good. I was just hitting my spots. It's easy to pitch when you've got a great defense behind you making plays."
Lopes starter Cody Kiemele did not record an out in the first inning before leaving with the Falcons leading 4-0 and loading the bases. Junior reliever Tommy McGuire struck out the first two batters he faced, but Air Force sophomore Kayden Bradshaw belted a first-pitch grand slam for his third home run of the season.
GCU immediately whittled at the 8-0 lead, getting a two-out, three-run home run in bottom of the first when junior first baseman Cannon Peery crushed a fastball 411 feet to left-center field for his sixth home run of the season. Peery is batting .500 (12 for 24) over the past seven games with four doubles and a homer.
"I was trusting that things were going to come around," said Peery, a graduate of Mountain Ridge High School in nearby Glendale. "Just simplifying and putting together good at bats and trusting that good results are going to come.
"It was huge to get some momentum, and it kind of made us believe that we could win that game, for sure. Everyone else kind of piled on, and we had a lot of big performances from everyone."
The power surge continued in the second inning, when junior left fielder Carson Ohland led off with a 378-foot homer to right and the five-run inning was capped with a deep RBI sacrifice fly by sophomore second baseman Jake Sanko and a game-tying, three-run home run to center by junior designated hitter Trevor Schmidt.
"I always think hitting is contagious," said Schmidt, who has a seven-game hitting streak of .400 batting (12 for 30 with four home runs). "When one guy hits, a lot follow. Last night, I struck out in a big moment. I really wanted to have a good today and get my revenge back. I was pretty locked in for that at bat."
With four errors in the first three innings and none thereafter, GCU still fell back 11-8 in the third inning but were leading for good before the fifth inning ended.
Graduate catcher Mito Perez knocked the Air Force lead down to 11-10 when he guided a breaking ball over the left-center field wall following a two-out Sanko triple off the left-center field wall.
An inning later, the biggest blast of them all came from freshman third baseman Jose Lopez III, who launched a 2-0 pitch across 35th Avenue for a game-tying, 437-foot home run – his fifth of the season.
Lopez set up a five-run inning, including the go-ahead RBI single coming with junior center fielder Griffin Cameron smacking a 1-2 pitch to left field. Seven GCU hitters collected at least two hits Sunday, as the Lopes scored half of their runs with two outs.
"Being able to absorb an eight-run deficit in the first really shows the character of this team and what we can do, especially when we play nine innings," Bannister said.
The win tied GCU with UNLV for seventh place in the Mountain West, where the top six teams will advance to the postseason tournament in Mesa. The Lopes are a half-game behind sixth-place San José State (5-7), which will catch up on conference games at Air Force next weekend while the Lopes are idle in conference play. GCU will then go to San José for a May 1-3 series.
During its conference break, GCU will finish its homestand with Kansas State at 1 p.m. Tuesday, BYU on April 27 and Arizona on April 28.
After a 1-5 start in MW play, the Lopes have won two of their last three conference series and have nine remaining MW games with a postseason chance in sight.
"That's something that we want to continue to hunt down," Bannister said. "That's what's exciting about this opportunity is that the teams in front of us, we have a chance to pluck down. And if we play good baseball, if we play our brand, we'll be in a good spot."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cunnings, Cam (2-3)
L: Holst, Joshua (1-3)
Batting:
HR: Bradshaw, Kayden 1
RBI: Bradshaw, Kayden 4 ; Elmore, Luke 1 ; Zapp, Walker 1 ; Jenkins, Cole 1 ; Hanoian, Wyatt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bradshaw, Kayden 3 ; Taylor, Christian 1 ; Niednagel, Ben 1 ; Elmore, Luke 1 ; Garrish, Tripp 1 ; Zapp, Walker 2 ; Jenkins, Cole 2 ; Hanoian, Wyatt 1
SB: Taylor, Christian 1 ; Jenkins, Cole 1
HBP: Bradshaw, Kayden 1 ; Garrish, Tripp 1
Batting:
2B: Ohland, Carson 1
3B: Sanko, Jake 1
HR: Perez, Mito 1 ; Schmidt, Trevor 1 ; Ohland, Carson 1 ; Peery, Cannon 1 ; Lopez III, Jose 1
RBI: Perez, Mito 2 ; Schmidt, Trevor 3 ; Sanko, Jake 2 ; Scaldeferri, Billy 1 ; Ohland, Carson 1 ; Cameron, Griffin 2 ; Peery, Cannon 3 ; Lopez III, Jose 1
SH: Bates, Camden 1
SF: Sanko, Jake 1 ; Cameron, Griffin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Perez, Mito 3 ; Schmidt, Trevor 1 ; Sanko, Jake 2 ; Scaldeferri, Billy 1 ; Ohland, Carson 2 ; Cameron, Griffin 2 ; Peery, Cannon 1 ; Lopez III, Jose 2 ; Bates, Camden 2
CS: Peery, Cannon 1
HBP: Peery, Cannon 1
PO: Peery, Cannon 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
3B/C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
1B
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball1B/OF
/ BaseballSingles off BOTH bags. ONE inning. 🤯 #baseball
Sunday, April 12
Schmidt's 3-run blast vs. ASU #collegebaseball
Wednesday, April 08
Fired up! Frey celebrates complete game shutout #collegebaseball
Saturday, April 04
GCU Baseball at Fresno State (Game 1) - Highlights
Friday, April 03