The Grand Canyon University Club Baseball Division 1 team stayed true to the theme of their National Club Baseball Association Southern Pacific South Conference series with Arizona State University Sunday, using a productive 9^th inning to break open a close game and secure an 8-4 win. The victory gave the Lopes two wins in the three-game series at Gene Autry Park in Mesa after splitting Saturday's games, winning Game 1, 10-4, and losing the nightcap, 7-6. The Lopes and Sun Devils are now part of a three-way tie for 2^nd place in the SoPac South behind undefeated San Diego State University.
 
Game 1 (Saturday):  GCU 10, ASU 4
 
So what was the 'theme' of the series? Letting the last at-bats decide the game. The Sun Devils thought they'd done that in the bottom of the 6^th inning of Game 1, getting a sacrifice fly from pinch-hitter Alex Del Pizzo to score Jon Bonfils from 3^rd base and break a 3-3 tie. The Lopes had other ideas in the 7^th, taking advantage of three walks and a hit batter to string together a seven-run inning, using RBI singles by Santiago Zuniga and Caden Rogers to put the game out of reach. Both Zuniga and Koa Manintin went 3-for-5, with Zuniga scoring twice and Manintin knocking in a pair of runs. Lopes' reliever Tyler Soren retired the side in order in the bottom of the 7^th to pick up his 2^nd straight win.
 
Game 2 (Saturday): ASU 7, GCU 6
 
A five-run 3^rd inning gave the Lopes the lead, but that and a Cole Wathen RBI single in the 5^th weren't enough to keep the lead, since the Sun Devils tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the 5^th inning. That's where the score stayed until the 7^th, when after the Lopes left the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in the top half, ASU needed just two hitters to win the game in the bottom of the frame. Sun Devils' shortstop Lucas Lipari led off with a single off GCU reliever Conor Whittaker, then sped around the bases to score three pitches later on a game-winning single to right field by Del Pizzo. That completed a 3-for-4 performance from Lipari with two runs scored to lead the way for ASU, while Manintin, Kyo Ohsato, Brady Steenson and Caisen Medina had two hits apiece for GCU in the loss.
 
Game 3 (Sunday):  GCU 8, ASU 4
 
The Lopes' offense staked GCU starting pitcher Sam Ott to a 5-0 lead – thanks to a four-run 5^th inning full of unearned runs cashed in by a two-run bloop single by Braeden Coloma and a two-run triple by Steenson. Ott scattered three ASU hits over five innings before the Sun Devils finally got to him with a run in the 6^th and two more in the 7^th. The Devils got within a run in the 8^th by scoring without a hit (two walks, a hit batter and a fielder's choice). The Lopes stopped the momentum by jumping on new Sun Devils' reliever Anthony Riveras in the 9^th, using three walks and a Ohsato single to score the Lopes' 6^th run, then Ott and Medina put the game out of reach with RBI singles. The Sun Devils loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7^th with no outs on two walks and an error, but Lopes' Head Coach Rich Warnol called on Soren again, and the sophomore hurler delivered, striking out the next two hitters and getting Chase Jankowski to fly out Ohsato in center field to end the threat and the game. Ott gave up three earned runs and six hits over seven innings on the hill to get the win and helped his own cause at the plate with two hits, while Coloma carried much of the offensive load with a 2-for-4 day with three runs scored and two RBI.
 
The Lopes (4-7 overall, 4-2 SoPac South) will take a full month off from conference play before heading to Tucson to battle the University of Arizona in a three-game set beginning March 23. The Lopes are back in action later today (Tuesday) with a non-conference matchup at Glendale Community College in Glendale starting at 2PM.