With dinner relegated to a midnight snack, the Grand Canyon University Club Baseball team endured a three-hour rain delay and five lead changes but lost to 6^th-seeded (and defending national champion) Penn State University, 16-13, Sunday evening in the second round of the National Club Baseball Association Division 1 World Series in Alton, Illinois. The loss dropped the 7^th-seeded Lopes to the elimination round against 3^rd-seeded University of Michigan Monday afternoon.
 
The weather delay wasn't a surprise for either team, since the game's start time had already been pushed back 90 minutes by the time the teams took the field. With clouds, wind and rain looming at the start, the teams spent an hour demonstrating why the game would neither be a pitchers' duel nor a defensive gem. After GCU's Santiago Zuniga gave the Lopes a 1-0 lead by scoring on two PSU errors and a stolen base, the Lions used a double and triple in the bottom half to take a 3-1 edge. The Lopes bounced back with a two-out rally in the 2^nd as Jonah Zembik, Kyo Ohsato and Koa Manintin all used run-scoring hits to chase PSU starting pitcher Drew Kingsbury and put the Lopes back on top, 5-3. Lopes' starting pitcher Sam Ott didn't last much longer than Kingsbury after PSU's Tanner Singh slugged a three-run blast in the bottom of the frame to send Ott to the dugout and the game to the (literal) showers for what became a three-hour, 21-minute rain delay.
 
When the teams returned to the field at 8:30PM Illinois time, the rain had stopped, but the offense hadn't. The Lions added two more runs before the 2^nd inning was over, but quickly gave up the lead again as the Lopes batted around in the 3^rd, scoring five unearned runs on a Manintin single, two walks and three PSU errors. The Lopes gave up another run in the bottom of the 3^rd but fought off another lead change to preserve a slim 10-9 edge for the next three innings.
 
In the 7^th, the Lopes took their four-run lead back by loading the bases with none out, and Ott's single to left field – combined with an error in the outfield – brought all three runs home. Once again, the cushion was short-lived as four singles and a Singh triple plated three Lions' runs in the bottom of the 7^th to cut the deficit to a single run again. The fifth and final lead change came in the bottom of the 8^th when three straight walks loaded the bases and PSU 3^rd baseman Nathan Zimcosky sent one over the left field wall for a grand slam homer to give the Lions the lead for good. The Lopes did bring the tying run to the plate with two out in the 9^th, but in a mammoth nine-pitch at-bat, GCU's Braeden Coloma struck out to end the game - seven hours and 19 minutes after it originally started.
 
The numbers from the game were staggering: 406 pitches thrown, 30 players used, 29 runs scored, 27 hits, 24 runners left on base, 21 strikeouts, 17 walks issued, 11 stolen bases, 11 pitchers used, nine extra-base hits and nine errors. GCU's Connor Bates took the loss, lasting 1 1/3 innings before allowing the Zimcosky round-tripper, while PSU's Sam Kerwin threw a perfect 8^th inning to get the win. Ott – who stayed in the game as the designated hitter after his pitching stint ended – led the Lopes' 13-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with two RBI, while Singh and Zimcosky were responsible for all 16 Lions' runs – each with five RBI and three runs scored.
 
To stay alive in the double-elimination tournament, the Lopes (20-13 overall, 12-3 SoPac South) will need to recharge their batteries quickly to face the 3^rd-seeded Wolverines (19-4 overall, 14-1 Great Lakes North) at 12:45PM Arizona time Monday afternoon, and with a win will face either top-seeded East Carolina University or 4^th-seeded Texas A&M University in the semifinal round on Tuesday. The tournament's championship game happens on Thursday, May 30.