Feel the heat? There was no way not to.
 
Forced to use pitchers as middle infielder and catchers in the outfield at the end due to heat-related injuries, the top-seeded Grand Canyon University Division 1 Club Baseball team still had the tying run in scoring position before dropping a 10-8 loss to upstart 4^th seed University of California-Santa Barbara Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the National Club Baseball Association Southern Pacific Region Tournament in Palm Springs, California. The loss foiled the Lopes' attempt to return to the NCBA D1 World Series for the second straight year.
 
There were so many 'déjà vu moments' in this tournament for the Lopes – beginning with the matchups with UCSB to begin and end the event for the second straight year – but that didn't include the venue nor the weather. Palm Springs Stadium – the 76-year-old facility that used to house spring training games for the Los Angeles Angels years ago – was a very worthy host facility. However, while the Lopes welcomed the change to Palm Springs from San Luis Obispo the past two years that lessened the drive from Phoenix by nearly six hours, the change in climate proved brutal for players, coaches and fans alike as it climbed to 107° both weekend days.

1^st Round (Friday): (4) UCSB 8, (1) GCU 2
 
Friday's opener didn't have that problem, since the length of the previous game delayed the Lopes' 6PM first pitch some 90 minutes. Once on the field, the Lopes' offense struggled to get much going against UCSB starting pitcher Henry Manfredonia, mustering more than one hit in just two of the nine innings. Still, GCU took a 1-0 lead into the 5^th inning before the Gauchos' offense began taking advantage of a subpar Lopes' defense. Lopes' starting pitcher Gordon Wend retired two of the first three hitters to face him, but a botched double-play attempt and a walk put runners at the corners. A diving attempt on a line drive to right field went past the Lopes' right fielder for a two-run triple, and an RBI single two pitches later gave the Gauchos a 3-1 lead. UCSB scored another run in the 6^th before blowing the game open in the 7^th with three more runs. Other than an RBI single by GCU's Caden Rogers in the 5^th, Manfredonia didn't allow another Lopes' runner past 2^nd base the rest of the way. Rogers, Nathan Fernandez and Brady Steenson had two hits each in the loss.
 
Elimination Round #1 (Saturday): (1) GCU 13, (2) Cal Poly 10
 
That gave the Lopes the most difficult road possible to win the title, but GCU knew they'd nearly done the same thing a year ago and won it, so they weren't flustered. The challenges kept coming, though, since they fell behind, 6-0, heading to the bottom of the 3^rd inning against 2^nd-seeded California Polytechnic University. Run-scoring hits from Fernandez and Sam Ott  in the bottom of the 3^rd plated three runs, then they added another in the 4^th. The deficit became six runs again, though, in the 6^th. Again, no problem. The resilient Lopes used errant Mustangs' pitching to score five runs in the 6^th on back-to-back doubles from Ian Petros and Santiago Zuniga, another RBI hit from Fernandez, a hit batter and three wild pitches. A Sam Ott RBI double tied the game at 10-10 in the 7^th inning, then the Lopes took the lead in the 8^th on two singles, a walk, a hit batter, two wild pitches and Fernandez's third hit of the day. Lopes' reliever Nathan McLean held down the fort as the Lopes came back, firing three scoreless innings of two-hit ball. Fernandez and Ott led a balanced 15-hit attack with three hits each while knocking in five.
 
Elimination Round #2 (Saturday): (1) GCU 9, (3) UC Davis 8
 
On to the second 3 ½ hour game of the day, where the order of the day was again a six-run deficit that the Lopes obliged in creating as the Aggies battered Lopes' starting pitcher Ott for six runs in their first at-bats. Despite it being just his second start back from a midseason arm injury, Ott had no intention of an early exit, holding the Aggies to just one more run in his five innings of work. That allowed the Lopes to storm back with four runs in the 2^nd inning (highlighted by a double from Steenson and a two-run single from Frankie Martinez), and runs in both the 4^th and 5^th. With Ott's pitch count in the 90s, Lopes' Head Coach Rich Warnol gambled and inserted normal Lopes' closer Tyler Soren early to replace him in the 6^th. What ensued was a masterful performance. Soren struck out the side in each of the next three innings - only allowing a run in the 8^th – en route to 10 strikeouts overall in four innings of work. Ott's 8^th-inning RBI single kept the Lopes within a run but still needing a miracle 9^th. Miracle No. 1 came three pitches into the bottom of the 9th when Rogers crushed a Joshua Mathiesen pitch over the left field wall to tie the game. Miracle No. 2 became more intricate as UCD strikeout ace Nicholas Jenkinson plunked Martinez with one out, gave up a single to pinch-hitter Ian Petros, then struck out GCU's Caisen Medina. Jenkinson went to a 2-0 count on Zuniga before a successful double steal forced UC Davis to intentionally walk the Lopes' senior. With Fernandez at the plate, the second pitch he saw glanced off the glove of UCD catcher Jacob George and skittered to the backstop, allowing Martinez to scamper home with the winning run. Martinez was responsible for five Lopes' runs, scoring twice and knocking in three, while Koa Manintin led the way with a 3-for-5 night.
 
Championship Round (Sunday): (1) GCU 14, (4) UCSB 12 (F/10)
 
Out of miracles yet? Not quite. Quickly running out of starting pitchers, Warnol put the ball in part-time starter Crew Cascaes' hand, and the sophomore southpaw chewed up four innings on the hill while allowing four Gauchos' runs. The Lopes' offense, though, learned its lesson from Saturday's slow starts, staking Cascaes to an early 6-1 lead with a plethora of timely hits.
 
Cascaes' gas tank went dry, though, and Warnol had to figure out which pitchers still had something left. The first choice didn't pay off as Wend's 95-pitch outing Friday apparently took everything out of him and all five Gauchos' hitters he faced in the 5^th inning came around to score to give UCSB a 9-6 lead. The Gauchos had the same pitching issues, though, and in the 7^th inning, the return of Manfredonia to the hill became a Lopes' revenge session as they sent nine men to the plate. Five hits later (the biggest one being an Ott triple to the base of the outfield wall), the Lopes had an 11-9 edge. Lopes' pitcher Michael Monreal – who had thrown 85 pitches in the Cal Poly win Saturday but still had enough to restore order for Wend in the 5^th – pitched admirably but wound down in the 8^th, and UCSB pounced for three runs to take the lead back.
 
With the temperature now over 100°, down to their final out in the top of the 9^th and the bases empty, Fernandez popped up to shallow right, but UCSB outfielder Paul Pacheco lost it in the sun for a bloop double, and Ott's ensuing single brought Fernandez home to tie it. Once again, Soren then took the hill in the bottom of the 9^th and retired the side in order. In the 10^th, Gauchos' reliever Ethan Kwan retired the first two Lopes' hitters before the wheels came off as a single, two walks, a fielding error and a hit batter scored two Lopes' runs. Soren had just enough left to return for the 10^th and mow three more UCSB hitters down to force the "winner-take-all" championship game. Fernandez led the way offensively, going 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles, a stolen base, scoring three runs with two RBI.
 
Championship Round (Sunday): (4) UCSB 10, (1) GCU 8
 
Reality (not to mention the heat) finally set in. Martinez left Sunday's first game in the 6^th due to heat exhaustion, Steenson pulled up lame shortly after that, and both starting outfielders were lost for the day. Warnol had three pitchers left – McLean, Luke Olsen and Nathan Kennedy – essentially bullpen guys that hadn't pitched long stints during the season. With all of that, though, the Lopes led much of the game with four runs in the 2^nd, two more in the 4^th and one more in the 5^th to take a 7-4 edge. The final "nails in the coffin" came in the 5^th and 6^th when Fernandez left the game, then Zuniga nearly collapsed from the heat and left as well, forcing Warnol to use pitchers Wend at 3^rd base (which he'd done periodically throughout the season) and 2^nd base (which he hadn't), Ott - who normally plays 3^rd base when not pitching - at shortstop; and Monreal in the outfield. UCSB saw an opportunity and took it, jumping on a tiring McLean for four runs in the 7^th, then adding insurance runs in both the 8^th and 9^th off Kennedy. With the Lopes trailing 10-7 going to the bottom of the 9^th, Kwan found a newfound energy in striking out Medina and Monreal to start the inning, but walked Wend, gave up a single to Ott and saw his leftfielder misplay Manintin's line drive to score one and put the tying run at 2^nd base before battling back to strike out Rogers on three pitches and dash the comeback.
 
The Lopes finish the season with an overall record of 24-4 and a perfect 15-0 mark in SoPac South Conference play.