Completed Event: Baseball versus Air Force on April 18, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 5
Baseball
vs Air Force
L 4-5
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, April 28
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
16-26
9
vs
8
Arizona
16-27
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 1 |
| Grand Canyon | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 1 |
Photo by: Kaily Green
Lopes score 5 to walk off Arizona, take series
4/28/2026 11:42:00 PM | Baseball
Cameron delivers 2-run single on final strike as GCU rallies with 5-run 9th
Grand Canyon delivered its most dramatic win of the season on Tuesday night, scoring five runs in the ninth inning and walking off Arizona 9-8 at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.
The win marked GCU's first walk-off of the year and secured the season series against the Wildcats for the third consecutive season, as the Lopes (16-26) have now won eight of the last 11 meetings in the in-state series.
Trailing 8-4 entering the ninth, GCU mounted a wild comeback against Arizona's bullpen. Junior left fielder Trevor Schmidt started the rally with a double before junior first baseman Cannon Peery crushed a two-run home run to cut the deficit in half at 8-6.
Freshman third baseman Jose Lopez III followed with a double to center, and junior designated hitter Carson Ohland drove him in with another double to make it a one-run game.
After a hit batter and a wild pitch moved the tying and winning runs into scoring position, junior center fielder Griffin Cameron stepped to the plate with two outs and delivered the decisive blow. Cameron lined a two-run single down the right-field line on the final strike of the game, scoring pinch-running Dominic Chacon and graduate catcher Mito Perez to complete the 9-8 comeback and ignite a celebration on Brazell Field.
"Belief," Cameron said. "The reason we won this game was because of belief. We believed in each other ... even though we were down by four in the ninth, everyone was still ready to hit. I'm always confident. That was probably the slowest my heartbeat had been all game. When I got down two strikes, I was just trying to put the ball in play any way, shape or form."
The GCU dugout emptied and joined Cameron near first base and pushed him into center field.
"That was scary," Cameron said of the approaching celebration. "I was worried about what they were going to do to me."
The Lopes' ninth-inning surge capped a game that saw contributions throughout the lineup, including Peery's two-hit, two-RBI effort and Cameron's three-hit night. GCU finished with a season-high 18 hits and consistently applied pressure before breaking through late.
"A W is a W," interim head coach Nathan Bannister said. "I'm proud of the fight of this group ... the guys just being gritty in the ninth, scoring five — that's fun to watch."
Bannister pointed to the sequence of at bats that flipped the game in GCU's favor.
"Schmidtty hits that double, then Cannon has a good at bat and hits a homer," Bannister said. "Once he hit that homer, our guys got a second belief ... then it just dominoes to the rest of the lineup."
The comeback win also completed a successful two-game midweek stretch for the Lopes, who will now carry momentum into a key Mountain West road series at San José State.
"That just shows the belief that this group has," Bannister said. "They looked at it as a challenge ... and that's what good momentum does for a team."
GCU posted its third walk-off win against Arizona in the last six seasons. Elijah Buries walked off the Wildcats in 2023, and Channy Ortiz hit one in 2021.
The win marked GCU's first walk-off of the year and secured the season series against the Wildcats for the third consecutive season, as the Lopes (16-26) have now won eight of the last 11 meetings in the in-state series.
Trailing 8-4 entering the ninth, GCU mounted a wild comeback against Arizona's bullpen. Junior left fielder Trevor Schmidt started the rally with a double before junior first baseman Cannon Peery crushed a two-run home run to cut the deficit in half at 8-6.
Freshman third baseman Jose Lopez III followed with a double to center, and junior designated hitter Carson Ohland drove him in with another double to make it a one-run game.
After a hit batter and a wild pitch moved the tying and winning runs into scoring position, junior center fielder Griffin Cameron stepped to the plate with two outs and delivered the decisive blow. Cameron lined a two-run single down the right-field line on the final strike of the game, scoring pinch-running Dominic Chacon and graduate catcher Mito Perez to complete the 9-8 comeback and ignite a celebration on Brazell Field.
"Belief," Cameron said. "The reason we won this game was because of belief. We believed in each other ... even though we were down by four in the ninth, everyone was still ready to hit. I'm always confident. That was probably the slowest my heartbeat had been all game. When I got down two strikes, I was just trying to put the ball in play any way, shape or form."
The GCU dugout emptied and joined Cameron near first base and pushed him into center field.
"That was scary," Cameron said of the approaching celebration. "I was worried about what they were going to do to me."
The Lopes' ninth-inning surge capped a game that saw contributions throughout the lineup, including Peery's two-hit, two-RBI effort and Cameron's three-hit night. GCU finished with a season-high 18 hits and consistently applied pressure before breaking through late.
"A W is a W," interim head coach Nathan Bannister said. "I'm proud of the fight of this group ... the guys just being gritty in the ninth, scoring five — that's fun to watch."
Bannister pointed to the sequence of at bats that flipped the game in GCU's favor.
"Schmidtty hits that double, then Cannon has a good at bat and hits a homer," Bannister said. "Once he hit that homer, our guys got a second belief ... then it just dominoes to the rest of the lineup."
The comeback win also completed a successful two-game midweek stretch for the Lopes, who will now carry momentum into a key Mountain West road series at San José State.
"That just shows the belief that this group has," Bannister said. "They looked at it as a challenge ... and that's what good momentum does for a team."
GCU posted its third walk-off win against Arizona in the last six seasons. Elijah Buries walked off the Wildcats in 2023, and Channy Ortiz hit one in 2021.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Penzkover, Gunnar (1-0)
L: Hicks, Garrett (3-2)
Batting:
2B: Lira, Tony 1
3B: Lira, Tony 1 ; McEntire, Carson 1
RBI: Lira, Tony 2 ; Cain, Andrew 1 ; McEntire, Carson 3
SF: Cain, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Meurant, Mathis 1 ; Lira, Tony 2 ; Novitske, Nate 1 ; Mihalakis, Maddox 1 ; Cain, Andrew 1 ; Danzeisen, Caleb 1 ; Sylvester, Beau 1
SB: Meurant, Mathis 1
Batting:
2B: Schmidt, Trevor 1 ; Ohland, Carson 1 ; Lopez III, Jose 2
HR: Peery, Cannon 1
RBI: Ohland, Carson 1 ; Cameron, Griffin 2 ; Peery, Cannon 2 ; Bates, Camden 1
SF: Bates, Camden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Perez, Mito 1 ; Schmidt, Trevor 1 ; Cameron, Griffin 1 ; Peery, Cannon 2 ; Huff, Kade 1 ; Chacon, Dominic 1 ; Lopez III, Jose 1 ; Johns, Tanner 1
SB: Sanko, Jake 1 ; Cameron, Griffin 1
HBP: Perez, Mito 1
PO: Scaldeferri, Billy 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
3b/rf
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
3B/C
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
1B
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball1B/OF
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