Last year, they needed the sweep just to get in, but not this time around.
 
Conference title already clinched and with much less on the line going into this weekend's final series, the Grand Canyon University Division 1 Club Baseball team still played with a necessary urgency, sweeping pesky University of Arizona at Colter Field on the GCU campus in Phoenix. The Lopes – who have been the nation's top-ranked team in the NCBA Poll the last six weeks – used an impressive, complete-game three-hitter from Game 1 starting pitcher Gordon Wend Saturday morning to win, 3-0; then had to storm back in the last inning of the doubleheader's nightcap to pull off a 3-2 victory. Sunday's finale wasn't nearly as suspenseful as five Lopes' pitchers combined to one-hit U of A in a 7-1 win. The sweep completed a perfect 15-0 record in National Club Baseball Association Southern Pacific South Conference SoPac South Conference play for the Lopes – the second time they've accomplished that feat in the last three seasons.
Game 1 (Saturday):  GCU 3, Arizona 0
 
With his eight seniors waiting to be honored on the field in between games of Saturday's doubleheader, Lopes' Head Coach Rich Warnol wasn't surprised when his offense spent a few innings trying to find themselves. Fortunately for them, one of those seniors, Wend, was on the mound, and while he wasn't completely in his usual "zone" (issuing four walks and hitting two batters), Wildcats' hitters still couldn't solve the riddle of the San Marcos, California, native all morning long. Arizona's best scoring chance was in the opening inning when a leadoff single and Lopes' throwing error put a pair of runners in scoring position with no one out, but Wend struck out Mason Doherty, then got an unconventional inning-ending double play when Koa Manintin snagged a liner at first base and fired a strike to double up the Wildcats' base runner on 2^nd base. The Wildcats didn't get another man past 2^nd base for the rest of the game.
 
The Lopes didn't find things easy, either, against UA starter John Karpan, but did just enough, turning a Santiago Zuniga single, two stolen bases and a Caden Rogers RBI single into their first run in the 3^rd inning; then put it out of reach in the 6^th with a Zack Ekstrom sacrifice fly to plate Frankie Martinez, and a Zuniga ground-rule double to center to score Nathan Kennedy. Wend fanned seven Wildcats' hitters to up his record to 4-0, while Zuniga's 3-for-4 day at the plate powered the Lopes' attack.
 
Game 2 (Saturday): GCU 3, Arizona 2
 
After plenty of smiles, laughs and a few tears in between games as Warnol and Lopes' Assistant Coach Kim Carpenter helped honor eight Lopes' seniors – Wend, Zuniga, Rogers, Braeden Coloma, Luis Escamilla, Nathan Fernandez, Sam Ott and Brady Steenson - the Lopes found the offensive road even tougher in Game 2 against UA starting pitcher Colin Dempsey, who retired 13 of the first 14 men to face him. That allowed the Wildcats to take their first lead of the series on an unearned run in the 3^rd. Dempsey was still unblemished when the 'Cats used a GCU fielding error leading off the 6^th to cash in another unearned run for a 2-0 lead. The Lopes took over from there, though. In the bottom of the frame, a leadoff double by Ian Petros gave them their first runner in scoring position of the game, which Zuniga's ground ball would score two batters later. The Lopes still trailed by a run going into the final at-bat, but Dempsey walked Ott to start the 7^th, then plunked Manintin on the next pitch to put the winning runs aboard. Rogers then cranked a single to right to tie the game, then with the infield and outfield pulled in with no one out, pinch-hitter Kennedy walloped a ball that landed over centerfielder Bryce Andersen's head to score the gamewinner. Michael Monreal pitched 3 2/3 innings of impressive two-hit relief to get the win.
 
Game 3 (Sunday):  GCU 7, Arizona 1
 
It was a 'bullpen day' for Warnol on the mound, and that spoke volumes – thanks to the nine-inning one-hitter they combined to throw. Those that had never seen normal Lopes' closer Tyler Soren before would've thought he was the team's main starter, since all he did was retire the first 10 Wildcats' hitters to face him (striking out the side in the 2^nd) and one-hit Arizona for five innings. Conversely, UA starter Zac Henderson's only bad frame in six innings of work was the 3^rd, but it was enough. Doubles from Zuniga and Ott and a Steenson triple were the flash, but the Lopes' efficiency was on display more, since the RBIs in the inning came from Ott, sacrifice flies from Manintin and Rogers and a Kennedy single to give the Lopes a 4-0 lead. It was an insurmountable edge, since after Soren left, Crew Cascaes, Luke Olsen, Nathan McLean and Kennedy each delivered an inning of no-hit relief, and the Wildcats only ruined the shutout on a 9^th-inning ground ball that cashed in a walk. Zuniga had four of the Lopes' 12 hits, with Steenson's two triples highlighting five GCU extra-base hits.
 
The Lopes (21-2 overall, 15-0 SoPac South) now play the waiting game, since the regular season isn't complete for the entire conference until next weekend, so they won't know their first-round opponent at the Southern Pacific Region Tournament until next week. They do know it will be the toughest region tournament in the NCBA, since the top-ranked Lopes, 3^rd-ranked California Polytechnic University (who won the SoPac Central title) and 13^th-ranked University of California-Davis (SoPac North champ) have already clinched three of the four tournament spots. The tournament will commence Friday, May 9 and crown a champion on Sunday, May 11 at its new home: Palm Springs Power Stadium in Palm Springs, California. The Lopes are trying for back-to-back region titles to try to get back to the national championship game for the 2^nd straight season.