Fog, wind, clouds, cold?
 
Meh. The bats kept them warm.
 
They allowed a run in the 1^st inning of each game of the series, but that did nothing to deter the Grand Canyon University Club Baseball team from powering their way to their fourth consecutive National Club Baseball Association Southern Pacific South Conference title, sweeping UC San Diego this past weekend in breezy and foggy La Jolla, California. The Lopes used a seven-run inning in Game 1, then runs in five of the seven innings of Game 2 to post identical 10-3 victories during Saturday's doubleheader; and used a 16-hit attack to finish off the sweep Sunday with a 19-9 win. The Lopes upped their overall record to 17-7 and kept their conference record perfect at 12-0 with three games left in the regular season. The Lopes also extended the Tritons' losing streak to five games. The wins clinched the Lopes a berth in the Southern Pacific Conference Tournament May 12-14 in San Luis Obispo, California.
 
"The players have had a great season, and it's great to have an opportunity to repeat as conference champions," said Lopes' Head Coach Rich Warnol. "With only seven guys returning from previous years, our guys have really gelled together and been a cohesive team."
 
Game 1 (Saturday): GCU 10, UC San Diego 3
 
Just two weeks ago, these two teams were separated by a game in the conference standings, but for the second straight series, the Tritons' pitching struggled mightily to control an opponent's offense. Tritons' starting pitcher Finn Daescher kept the Lopes somewhat at bay until the 5^th, when the first four GCU hitters reached base. The Lopes ultimately sent 11 men to the plate in the frame, scoring seven times. The Lopes scored twice on Braeden Coloma and Rhys Davis RBI hits, then Daescher retired the next two to face him, but a fielding error on a Lopes' ground ball kept the inning alive, and Brady Steenson's 2-run double and Bryce Arana's RBI triple blew the game open and sent Daescher to the showers. That was more than enough cushion for San Diego native and Lopes' starter Wyatt Laub to go the seven-inning distance, allowing three earned runs while striking out five. Coloma and Arana had three hits each, while Davis, Steenson, Koa Manintin and Jonah Zembik had a pair of hits each.
 
Game 2 (Saturday): GCU 10, UC San Diego 3
 
Game 2 was just a gradual GCU offensive beatdown. The Lopes took a 1-1 tie into the 3^rd inning, then systematically blew the game open with three runs in the third, two more in the 4^th and another three crossing the plate in the 5^th. GCU also used what they were given, since all three 3^rd-inning runs were unearned, and they only needed a single hit – an RBI single from Santiago Zuniga – in the 5^th, since they were also handed two walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a passed ball in the frame. Zuniga, Arana, Sam Ott and Arturo Lopez, Jr. each had a pair of hits, while Ott knocked in a run in each of his first three at-bats. Conor Whittaker and Ty Magin combined to limit the Tritons' offense to five hits and eight strikeouts.
 
Game 3 (Sunday):  GCU 19, UC San Diego 9
 
The suspense from the outset wasn't about who would win the game, but when it would end. The Lopes flirted with the mercy rule (a 10-run margin after seven innings) throughout the middle innings, since they scored two runs in the first, three each in the second and fourth innings, and five more in the 6^th to take an 13-2 edge. Cognizant of the fact that his roster features six California natives (and four from the San Diego area), Warnol tried to get his bullpen some work, but wildness in the bottom of the 7^th allowed the Tritons to score four runs and keep the game alive. That set the stage for a wild fourth hour of the game, with each team raiding their benches (it was also UC San Diego's last home game) and scoring a combined 13 runs in the final 15 outs. Of the 17 hitters in Warnol's lineup during the game, Zuniga, Steenson and Nathan Kaszynski were constants, each getting three hits while scoring seven runs and knocking in eight between them.
 
The Lopes will finish off the regular season schedule by playing their only series of the season at the home of the Lopes' NCAA Baseball squad - Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark - on Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30 against the University of Arizona. Saturday will feature only one nine-inning game that weekend, while the two seven-inning doubleheader games will be played on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 10AM both days, and admission is FREE.