NOTE: This Press Release came in late, but we thought our followers would still want to read it.
Lopes add late insurance, strand 2 runners in scoring position to defeat Wildcats
The Lopes (20-16) handed the Wildcats (21-14) their first loss since March 26, ending the nation’s longest winning streak that included sweeps of UCLA, Cal and Louisiana Tech and midweek wins against New Mexico and Stanford.
GCU continued recent success against Arizona, winning at home for the second straight time and moving back to .500 in the series’ last eight meetings. The Lopes took down a top-25 team for the first time since opening the 2023 home schedule with a win over No. 2 Tennessee. GCU has won seven games over top-25 teams in the last three seasons.
A freshman trio combined to pitch eight of the game’s nine innings for GCU. Lefty Ben Smith threw the first 4 2/3 innings, limiting the Wildcats to one run with five strikeouts. He handed the torch to freshman righty Garrett Ahern, and freshman righty Hunter Watkins closed out the game and earned his first career save.
“They’re animals, man,” sophomore shortstop Emilio Barreras said of the freshmen arms. “I see them every time in the clubhouse and they’re always smiling, always wanting to be here, always wanting to make an impact. That fires me up and makes me want to defend more and better than I usually do. It’s electric.”
The one non-freshman to pitch was senior lefty Bryan Webb who faced the minimum in the seventh and was the winning pitcher for the second time this season.
“We won this game with three freshmen who all pitched great,” Wallis said. “It started with Smith. Garrett Ahern came in and picked him up. We went freshman 6-6 left-hander to 6-6 right-hander and they got the job done. Bryan Webb came in with an outstanding inning against the top of a very fierce lineup that’s in the top 25 in the country, on an 11-game win streak. Our senior lefty who hadn’t pitched a ton this year and really did a great job against the top of their lineup.”
GCU trailed 1-0 early but used a three-run second inning to take a lead that it wouldn’t give up. The lead was narrowed to one run on two occasions: 3-2 in the sixth and 5-4 in the ninth.
The Lopes added key insurance in the eighth inning to build the lead back to three runs. Freshman Troy Sanders entered the game as an injury replacement for junior third baseman Eli Paton, and he singled down the right-field line to begin the rally. Senior catcher Alton Gyselman singled behind him and both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Barreras.
Barreras capped off a three-RBI night with a run-scoring single to build GCU’s lead to 4-2. Senior Eddy Pelc — who moved back to right field with the return of senior center fielder Cade Verdusco off injury — laid down a squeeze bunt to add a run to the lead.
“That was a sustained rally there,” Wallis said. “Troy Sanders started that with a big single to right field. Alton kept it going. Emilio got a hit. Eddy came up with a safety. The exclamation point was Eddy executing the short game. At the time, that looked like it was a nice cushion and that ended up being the winning run on some small ball. It was a great way to get a win.”
Watkins struck out three batters in his debut inning in the eighth but played with some fire in the ninth. Needing three runs to tie, Arizona plated two and had a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Watkins ended the night with a strikeout and a lazy fly to left field to secure the win.
“What else can you say about Hunter Watkins,” Wallis said. “He just looked under control the whole time, even when it got second and third and it got a little dicey. He stayed under control, he executed pitches and he came out on top.”
In addition to Barreras providing the Lopes’ more cushion to their lead in the eighth, Barreras also had the big hit of the three-run second inning. With a pair in scoring position, Barreras singled to left to push GCU in front 3-1.
“He’s really been going lately,” Wallis said. “Started the season a bit slow. But if you look at what he’s doing in conference play, his last 10 games and all that, he’s been one of our leading hitters. He’s committed to some really quality work with (hitting coach Nathaniel) Causey and he’s been getting it done with the bat for us.”
Since the Lopes’ last game against the Wildcats on March 19, Barreras is hitting 19 for 44 (.432).
Senior left fielder Tyler Wilson was the only other Lope with multiple hits, pushing his career tally to 199 with a two-hit night.
The Lopes turn their attention to another Pac-12 foe as Washington State visits GCU Ballpark on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics – Josh Hauser
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