(Phoenix, AZ) Grand Canyon closed out its regular-season schedule with back-to-back sweeps of New Mexico State and Seattle U, finishing off that feat with a 6-1 Saturday afternoon victory at GCU Ballpark.
A far cry from Friday’s 17-7 offensive display, the Lopes (39-17, 25-5 WAC) limited Seattle U to one run on seven hits behind 5 2/3 innings of one-run baseball from sophomore lefty Connor Markl.
“I thought Markl did a great job,” Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. “That’s just what we needed. We needed him to get back in his groove. His fastball had life to it again. He was moving it in and out. His changeup was working. So that’s a great job by him.”
The Lopes have won four of Markl’s last five starts including victories over Stanford and Sacramento State, but the Scottsdale, Arizona, native earned a winning decision for the first time since April 27.
“Markl’s a great pitcher,” said sophomore center fielder Cade Verdusco, who led the Lopes from the plate on Saturday. “You know if he’s on, he’s just going to go out there and pound the zone. I see everything from center, I just saw his ball moving all over the place today. I said, ‘This’ll be a good day.’ I really trust Markl with the ball in his hands.”
Verdusco returned to the field for the first time since a collision with the outfield wall on May 8. He loudly announced his return with a career-best four-hit performance.
“I’ve been a little banged up lately, so I wanted to ease back into it,” Verdusco said. “I just told myself, ‘You got nothing to lose. Just play loose.’ From the first at bat of the day it felt good. I just went up to the plate, I wanted to hit the ball hard, help the team out and play some good defense.”
Verdusco singled in the second, fourth and sixth innings before capping off the day with a two-run single in the seventh to reach the game’s final scoring margin.
“Cade had to take some time off for a little bit of an injury,” Stankiewicz said. “We gave him the start today just so we could get him back on the field. Great performance by him. That was a big two-out knock to drive in two and to give us a two spot there late to separate us a little more.”
Verdusco’s fellow outfielder — junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar — made Lopes history on Saturday with his 20th home run of the season, the most by a GCU batter at the Division I level and the first 20-homer season at GCU since 1985.
“Congrats to him, man,” Stankiewicz said. “Twenty home runs in a college season, that’s a great accomplishment. I’m proud of his development as a hitter. He’s grown up, he’s shown a lot more leadership skills as well, he’s staying within himself. It’s just fun to see him develop as a player and a person. That young man has worked hard and this means a lot to him. It’s cool as a coach when you see someone that puts that type of work in to have that type of accomplishment.”
Aguilar’s record-breaking home run came in the fifth inning, helping extend GCU’s lead from 2-0 to 3-0. He supplanted Craig Caballero’s mark of 19 home runs in 1994 as GCU’s record in a D-I season.
Unlike Friday’s game where the Lopes’ scoring came in large bunches, Saturday’s offense all came via one-run frames with the exception of a two-run seventh.
Sophomore left fielder Elijah Buries started the day with a bloop double to left-center and scored on a pair of productive outs.
Graduate catcher Sy Snedeker made it a 2-0 lead with a two-out single through the right side in the fourth.
After Seattle U narrowed the score to 3-1 in the sixth, GCU responded on a sacrifice fly from Buries.
The Lopes finished off the day’s scoring with Verdusco’s fourth and final hit of the day in the seventh inning, plating a pair of runs.
GCU had to play the delicate balance of winning all three games to continue building its season resume while also preparing for next weekend’s WAC Tournament.
The Lopes were able to sweep the series from the Redhawks while also giving a week off to freshman right-hander Daniel Avitia and key junior setup man Eli Ankeney. Junior closer Vince Reilly was only called upon for one inning of work in the three-game series.
“Hopefully this weekend we gave Ankeney and Vince a little bit of a blow because obviously they’ve done a great job for us and we’re going to need them next week,” Stankiewicz said. “Hopefully we’re playing four games in a row in Mesa. So we’re going to need everybody.”
Before WAC Tournament play begins, GCU has already matched last year’s team for its highest D-I win total with 39 wins. The Lopes recorded 39 regular-season wins for the first time since 1989 when they did it at the NAIA level.
“I’m proud of our season, what we’ve been able to accomplish on a tough schedule as you know,” Stankiewicz said. “In my mind, one of the toughest. So now the fun begins. This is what it’s about.”
GCU will open tournament play at Mesa’s Hohokam Stadium on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Lopes will enter as the West Division’s No. 1 seed and will play the Southwest Division’s No. 4-seeded Abilene Christian. Up from a six-team format that the Lopes won last year, this year’s WAC Tournament features eight teams and the champion will have to win at least four games to clinch the conference’s automatic bid.
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon University Athletics – Josh Hauser
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