They might have been due for a loss.
 
But not a trip home.
 
After suffering its first World Series loss ever just hours before, the Grand Canyon University Club Baseball Division 2 team bounced back to knock off 5^th-seeded University of New Hampshire, 6-3, in the semifinal elimination round of the 2023 National Club Baseball Association Division 2 World Series in Alton, Illinois, Monday afternoon. The win returns the 2^nd-seeded Lopes (23-3 overall, 17-1 Pacific Region South) to the championship game Tuesday night against top-seeded Ohio State University, and gives GCU the chance to claim its second consecutive national title. The win also avenged a 5-1 loss to UNH earlier in the day – the Lopes' first loss of the double-elimination event.
 
1^st Round (Friday): #2 GCU 7, #7 Temple 6 (F/10)
 
Drama has been the mode of the tournament for the Lopes since the moment they stepped onto Lloyd Hopkins Field Friday afternoon. The Lopes built a 5-2 lead after four innings, but never felt comfortable with the cushion, and 7^th-seeded Temple University (Pennsylvania) proved why, scoring runs in the 5^th, 6^th and 7^th innings to force extra innings (all D2 regulation games are seven innings). The score remained 6-6 until the 10^th. The Owls got their chance to win by putting runners on 1^st and 2^nd base with one out, but Temple's Connor Ertel hit a liner to Lopes' shortstop Nathan Fernandez, who not only gloved it, but tagged the lead runner for an unassisted double play to end the threat. In the bottom of the frame, Jordan McDonald and Jason Bettencourt led off the inning with singles, then a double steal forced an intentional walk to load the bases with no outs. Mike Walsh then sent the first pitch he saw through the left side for a single to plate McDonald with the gamewinner. McDonald, Fernandez, Chris Walsh, Dimitri Pettit and Mason Mosher had two hits apiece to lead the Lopes' offense, while Justin Garrido, GCU's 3^rd pitcher of the day, allowed just two Temple hits over the final 3 2/3 innings to get the W.
 
Quarterfinals (Saturday): #2 GCU 1, #6 Missouri S&T 0
 
One good walkoff hit deserved another. The pitching lines for GCU's Thomas Blakney and Missouri S&T University's Justin Goerger mirrored each other – that is, until the final inning. Each pitcher allowed just one opposing runner to reach 3^rd base in the first six innings combined before both showed signs of fatigue in the 7^th. Blakney retired the first two Miners' hitters to start the inning, but back-to-back singles and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position before MSTU's Joseph Villareal grounded to 3^rd base to keep the game scoreless. In the bottom of the 7^th, Goerger retired the first Lopes' hitter to face him, then ran aground, plunking Bettencourt, and giving up a double to Mike Walsh before intentionally walking Chris Walsh to set a possible double play. That never came as Pettit became the Saturday hero with a grounder through the right side to plate Bettencourt and send the Lopes to the semis. Blakney fanned eight Miners' hitters in pitching a complete-game six-hitter, while Zach Barnao had two of GCU's six hits on the day.
 
Semifinal Round 1 (Monday morning): #5 New Hampshire 5, #2 GCU 1
 
The day off Sunday apparently didn't serve the Lopes well, since they struggled offensively from the outset Monday morning against University of New Hampshire starting pitcher Jack Leahy, who allowed just four singles, and never more than one in any inning. Other that Bettencourt scoring on a passed ball in the 2^nd inning, the Lopes didn't get another runner to 3^rd base until the 6^th inning. Meanwhile, the Wildcats' offense was steady all morning long, scoring in four of the first five innings, and scattering their seven hits among six different hitters.
 
Semifinal Round 2 (Monday afternoon): #2 GCU 6, #5 New Hampshire 3
 
That set up a simple formula: 'winner goes on, loser goes home' in the second matchup in the span of five hours between the two teams. With top-seeded Ohio State waiting in the wings (after eliminating Temple in the other semifinal matchup Monday), the Lopes' offense took three innings to get its collective mojo back, then started to run away with it with two-run frames in the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th innings. Lopes' starter Hunter McWilliams took a perfect game into the 6^th inning before he showed signs of fatigue, retiring the first two UNH hitters, then hitting the next hitter, allowing a single, plunking another batter to load the bases, and finally allowing a bases-clearing double to Tony Lucci to slice the Lopes' lead to three. Garrido took the hill in the 7th to shut it down, but after retiring the first two Wildcats' hitters, gave a single and a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Garrido regained his composure and got UNH's Cameron Walsh to ground out to Pettit at 2^nd to finally send the Lopes back to the title matchup.
 
For Championship Tuesday, the double-elimination format gives way to a 'winner-take-all' championship game between the top two seeds in the tournament. A win over the 27-1 Buckeyes – whose only loss of the season occurred in mid-March to the University of North Dakota – gives the Lopes their second straight national championship trophy. First pitch is scheduled for 5 PM (Arizona time) Tuesday afternoon. While there is no official stream for the game, the Lopes will have updates on their Twitter (@gcuclubsports) page.