In a tussle between two of the top three teams in the National Club Baseball Association Southern Pacific South Conference a season ago, the Grand Canyon University Division 1 Club Baseball team opened the 2025 conference season with a three-game sweep of San Diego State University at Colter Field on the GCU campus in Phoenix. The Lopes made the most of their two hits in Game 1 of the Saturday doubleheader to beat SDSU, 3-1; then got the bats rolling to the tune of 11 hits, but needed extra innings to win the nightcap, 5-4. Game 3 Sunday was one-sided as the Lopes led from start to finish in an 11-4 rout.
 
Game 1 (Saturday):  GCU 3, San Diego State 1
 
With more than the usual spat of early-season injuries, Lopes' Head Coach Rich Warnol entered the weekend unsure of how well his position players would gel. He'd have to wait until Game 2 to fully find out, since the Lopes resembled a team in mid-February all throughout the first game with just two hits on offense and three defensive errors. Fortunately, Warnol knew what returning starting pitcher Gordon Wend could provide, and the senior righty didn't disappoint. Wend retired the first seven Aztecs' hitters to face him, allowed just five hits (all singles) and struck out seven hitters in going six strong innings.  The only time the Aztecs got to Wend was in the 3^rd, when after Carter Crivelli broke through with a one-out single, Colin Lam singled him home one batter later. The 1-0 lead lasted all of 10 minutes, since an SDSU error, an Ian Petros single and a Caisen Medina sacrifice fly to right field got the Lopes even. Petros' hit was all the Lopes had to show for their efforts until SDSU starter Rahmi Ismail faltered in the 6^th, walking both Santiago Zuniga and Nathan Fernandez with one out. One batter later, Warnol rolled the dice and brought Wend to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Wend validated Warnol's choice, lining the first pitch he saw up the middle to plate both runners and put himself in the line for the win, which Lopes' closer Tyler Soren delivered in retiring the side in order in the 7th to end the game.
 
Game 2 (Saturday): GCU 5, San Diego State 4 (F/9)
 
The Aztecs saw the Lopes battle from behind in the first game, so they figured they would return the favor in Game 2. They saw a 1-0 1^st inning lead disappear in the bottom of the frame again, thanks to a Fernandez RBI single and a Braeden Coloma sacrifice fly to score Fernandez two batters later. The Lopes added an insurance run in the 4^th when Brady Steenson doubled, stole 3^rd base and came home on Cole Wathen's single; then used an Aztecs' error to extend it to a 4-1 lead in the 6^th. Entering the 7^th inning, SDSU hadn't touched Lopes' new starting pitcher Michael Monreal since their four-hit 1^st inning, but a tiring Monreal gave up a single, a double, a walk and then hit a batter to allow the Aztecs to tie it at 4-4, sending the game to extra innings when the potential winning run for GCU was thrown out at home in the bottom of the 7^th. The Lopes returned the favor in the top of the 8^th by gunning down an Aztecs' runner at home plate, which saved the game until the bottom of the 9^th, when Aztecs' reliever Jacen Rademacher first plunked Lopes' leadoff hitter Zack Ekstrom, watched Ekstrom head to 2^nd on a sacrifice bunt and 3^rd base on a Fernandez single before a Sam Ott soft liner to right brought him home with the gamewinner. It was Ott's third hit of the game to pace the offense, while Lopes' reliever Nathan Kennedy fired 2 1/3 innings of two-hit shutout ball to get the victory.
 
Game 3 (Sunday):  GCU 11, San Diego State 4
 
All of Saturday's suspense was non-existent Sunday because the Lopes' offense took over. Ott set the tone with a three-run bomb in the 1^st inning, then the Lopes added two more in the 3^rd and blew the game open with five runs combined in the 5^th and 6^th innings. The Aztecs managed to pick up four runs in the last three innings but did it on just three hits for the game. Besides going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI at the plate, Ott's first start of the NCBA season on the mound earned him the win with six scoreless innings of two-hit ball. Fellow Lopes' senior Pabel Martinez matched Ott at the plate with three singles and a double, two runs scored and two RBI.
 
The Lopes' first road series in SoPac South play happens this Saturday and Sunday, February 22 and 23 at UC San Diego, then they'll get their lone weekend at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark on March 1 and 2 against archrival Arizona State University. First pitch for both Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game at Brazell Field will be 10AM, and admission is FREE.