Other than a pandemic, what separates the Lopes from a conference club baseball title in the last five years?
 
Nothing.
 
It took the first 11 innings of the final three-game series of the conference season for the normally explosive Grand Canyon University Club Baseball offense to finally surface, but its arrival brought the Lopes a doubleheader sweep of Northern Arizona University Saturday at the brand-new Colter Baseball Field on the GCU campus. The mercy-rule shortened 11-1 victory in six innings in Game 2 – coupled with a 5-2 win in Game 1 – handed the Lopes their third consecutive National Club Baseball Association Southern Pacific South Conference title (the COVID-19 pandemic denied the SoPac the chance to play a full season in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons). It also ended the suspense of the conference race one day short of Sunday's regular season finale – a 7-0 GCU victory over the Lumberjacks – that gave the Lopes a 14-1 SoPac South record and an automatic berth in the NCBA SoPac Regional Tournament.
 
"It was frustrating not being able to play for those two years and defend the title," said Lopes' Head Coach Rich Warnol.  "To have 100-plus guys come out for our club baseball program this year definitely helped get the talent back where we were in 2018-19. We had some guys very hungry to keep playing the game, and it showed this season."
 
Game 1 (Saturday):  GCU 5, NAU 2
 
The wear and tear of finals week at GCU was evident throughout the first 90 minutes of play Saturday morning, since the Lopes' offense – who came in having scored 11 or more runs in seven of their last nine conference games – had one good inning, then had to spend the rest of Game 1 making it stand up. GCU took a 3-0 lead after one frame, thanks to two walks, two Jacob Martinez steals (later scoring on a ground ball out), and a two-run blast by first baseman Connor Pedersen. The Lopes managed just five more hits after that, but got a timely RBI single by Pedersen in the third, and a 5^th-inning Walter Quinn double that cashed in the last run.
 
That was easily enough for the Lopes' pitching duo of Andrew McCann (who scattered seven NAU hits while allowing just a single earned run over six innings) and Koby Anderson to keep GCU ahead. Pedersen's two hits and three runs batted in paced the Lopes, while opposing first baseman John Sperry had three hits and the lone RBI for NAU in the loss.


Game 2 (Saturday):  GCU 11, NAU 1 (F/6)
 
Game 2 had an eerily similar feel through the first four innings. The Lopes' two 1^st-inning runs came from a leadoff walk to Martinez, a wild pitch and stolen base to get him to 3^rd, an inside pitch that hit Lopes' left fielder Bryce Arana to get him aboard, a delayed double steal that sent Martinez home and Arana to 3^rd base (thanks to a fielding error), and a Johnny Harman RBI single to plate Arana. Arana then doubled the lead in the 3^rd inning with a towering homer over the left field wall. However, when the Lumberjacks broke the shutout with a run in the top of the 4^th, and Jacks' reliever Matt Freeman retired the Lopes in order in the bottom half, it looked like the Lopes would have to eke another win out.
 
Pedersen changed the narrative with one swing, a deep three-run bomb in the 5^th inning, and suddenly, the floodgates opened. Sending eight to the plate in the 6^th against a tiring Freeman, a Brandon Wolff triple in the gap, an Arnara RBI sacrifice fly, and RBI singles by Pederson and Jeremy Aguirre invoked the 10-run mercy rule, and the title was reality.
 
Lopes' staff ace Ben Ineson never lost focus, going the six-inning distance, fanning eight Jacks' batters and allowing just five hits and no earned runs to move to 5-0 on the year. Pederson capped off a perfect day at the plate by going 4-for-4 in the nightcap with four RBI. Harman added three hits and scored twice, while Arana scored three times and knocked in three more.
 

(L-R) Patrick Aguirre, Easton Babe, Eli Graham, Ben Ineson, Connor Pederson, Simon Siggins-Bell

Game 3 (Sunday):  GCU 7, NAU 0
 
Left to celebrate on Sunday morning was the final home game for the Lopes' six seniors, including Aguirre, Pedersen, infielder Easton Babe, and pitchers Ineson, Eli Graham and Simon Siggins-Bell. 
 
The seniors certainly didn't make that their last memorable moment on the field, since they all contributed over the ensuing two-plus hours. Siggins-Bell and Graham set the tone on the hill, combining for the first six innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits and striking out four. Babe led the team with a pair of RBI, and he and Aguirre each contributed a single. Pedersen, meanwhile, didn't cool off at the plate, hammering an RBI double to the wall, and adding a single and a run scored to go 8-for-11 on the weekend.
 
"This group of seniors has been beneficial to the underclassmen because we've taught them how to be smart playing baseball, stay loose and play hard the whole way - just like Rich teaches us the entire time," said Pedersen.
 
"These seniors are going to be a tough group to lose with their competitiveness and leadership," said Warnol. "It's continued to keep us where we're at."
 
The Lopes (20-9 overall, 13-1 SoPac South) will have extended time to prepare for the 2022 SoPac Regional Tournament, which happens May 13 through 15 in Lancaster, California. GCU will find out who will fill out the rest of the four-team field for the three-day, double-elimination tournament in the next few days.
 
"Having three weeks off in between games will be tough," said Warnol. "However, not having school to worry about when we get to Lancaster will definitely improve the focus going forward."
 
"Like many of our guys say, the job isn't finished yet," said Pedersen. "Having a young group of guys that can produce is a huge thing for us to be able to go in there and keep the momentum going. It's a good feeling knowing that we're going to Lancaster with a target on our backs."
 
Meanwhile in San Diego, California, the Lopes' Division 2 Club Baseball followed the lead of their D1 counterparts this weekend, sweeping the University of San Diego to clinch the Pacific South Conference Championship, and a berth in the NCBA D2 Pacific South Regional Tournament in two weeks.