GCU Baseball upsets Arizona for first NCAA Tournament win as Division I program, 9-4

GCU Baseball planned on making history when heading down south to Tucson and to disrupt the rowdy University of Arizona fans at Hi Corbett Field, the Lopes did just that by pulling off a 9-4 upset victory over the nationally No. 15 ranked Wildcats Friday night.

Right fielder Eddy Pelc went 2-for-3 at the plate with three of his four RBIs coming from a double and starting pitcher Grant Richardson threw 6.0 innings of one-run baseball for Grand Canyon’s (35-23) first-ever NCAA Division I baseball tournament win in program history.

Arizona (36-22) shortstop Mason White was 2-for-4 and Clark Candiotti gave up five runs on four hits in 6.0 innings in the defeat. U of A had six players who had at least a hit while GCU saw just five.

Lopes Running Toward Winner’s Bracket

Getting things going right from the get-go, GCU left fielder and 2024 WAC Player of the Year Tyler Wilson smoked a leadoff home run to right field for a 1-0 lead. Arizona challenged the ruling of the homer, but it was eventually confirmed.

To tack on another run, Lopes catcher Alton Gyselman bunted for a ground out and designated hitter Michael Diaz scored in the second inning.

Down 2-0, the Tucson Regional host Arizona needed to regain the momentum in front of the 8,798 fans in attendance, and they did.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, Wildcats left fielder Easton Breyfogle walked for a run to score. Third baseman Richie Morales then dashed across home plate after right fielder Emilio Corona hit into a fielder’s choice, tying it 2-2.

To take the lead, center fielder Brendan Summerhill singled for another run and all of a sudden, Arizona were up 3-2. Getting out of the jam with no runs earned, Richardson locked in for the remainder of the game and got offensive support from his teammates.

Pelc hit a massive, three-run double to center field in the sixth inning for Grand Canyon to regain the lead 5-3.

Wildcats catcher Blake McDonald did hit an RBI single in the sixth for a 5-4 score, but Richardson finished his start with five strikeouts and walking four batters. Besides the second inning, the Cave Creek native shut the Wildcats down with allowing just one earned run on three hits.

From there, the combination of Isaac Lyon coming out of the bullpen dominating and the Lopes producing late-game offense saw GCU prevail.

Center fielder Cade Verdusco grounded out into a double play in the seventh inning, third baseman Eli Paton scored off a fielder’s choice by Pelc in the eighth and first baseman Zach Yorke’s ninth inning double drove home two runs to help the Lopes win 9-4. Lyon wrapped up his first save of the season with 3.0 innings on the mound and just two hits against, striking out four Wildcats.

GCU will be back on the diamond of Hi Corbett Field tonight as they face West Virginia at 7 p.m. PT. West Virginia (33-22) beat Dallas Baptist 4-1 on Friday.