Upcoming Event: Baseball versus Cal State Fullerton on November 8, 2025 at 11 a.m.
Baseball
11 a.m.
vs Cal State Fullerton
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, April 9
St. George, Utah
1 p.m.
Grand Canyon
22-11, 12-2
14
at
3
Dixie State
14-16, 8-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
1
0
4
0
2
2
5
14
19
0
Dixie State
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
3
7
1
Avitia fans 12 as Lopes win Saturday rout
4/9/2022 4:20:00 PM | Baseball
Right-hander logs most strikeouts by a GCU pitcher since 2004 in run-rule victory
ST. GEORGE, Utah — Grand Canyon freshman pitcher Daniel Avitia struck out 12 batters. Sophomore first baseman Tyler Wilson racked up five hits. GCU homered a season-high four times. The Lopes dominated Saturday's tilt at Dixie State to win 14-3 in seven innings via mercy rule and clinch another conference series victory.
Avitia picked up his fourth win of the season. At one point, he had a string of seven outs all recorded by strikeout. Avitia's strikeout tally was the most by a Lopes pitcher since Jeff Swanson struck out 18 vs. San Francisco State on April 30, 2004.
"I felt really good," Avitia said. "There were a couple of pitches that didn't go my way and the wind took the ball but, other than that, I felt great."
Avitia has struck out a WAC-leading 54 batters in 44 1/3 innings this season.
"The fun thing about Daniel is he's got pace and presence which I love," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "He's got a great pace. He wants the ball on the mound and he takes the ball and he goes. There's no waiting around. Let's go. And his presence on the mound, he's confident and he's not afraid. He wants to attack Strike 1. I think, for a young man in his first year in college baseball, it's impressive."
Avitia was backed by one of GCU's best offensive days of the season. The 14-run total was the fourth-best performance by the Lopes (22-11, 12-2 WAC) this year, while the 19 hits marked the second-best output of the season.
"The at bats were really good," Stankiewicz said. "Tyler Wilson was nice and relaxed at the plate and seeing it well. Tayler Aguilar hit a big two-run homer by staying to the middle of the field. That's our development as an offense too is being able to use the middle of the diamond."
The Lopes homered a season-high four times to push its WAC West Division lead to three games ahead of California Baptist. Sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson got the scoring going in the first inning with a solo shot, his ninth homer of the season. Sophomore left fielder Cade Verdusco hit a three-run homer in the third inning for his first home run of the season. Junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar joined Wilson with nine, the team high, on the season after a three-run shot in the seventh. Freshman Maxwell Andeel finished the power surge off with a two-run homer in the seventh.
"That's a great couple of at bats by Andeel off the bench," Stankiewicz said. "A big knock and then a homer as well."
Tyler Wilson logged GCU's third five-hit game of the season, joining sophomore Homer Bush Jr., who tallied five hits at California Baptist on March 6, and Jacob Wilson, who had five against Utah Valley on March 19.
After Jacob Wilson's first-inning homer put the Lopes in front, GCU added four runs in the third to lead 5-0.
When Dixie State scored its first two runs in the third, GCU countered with two runs in the fourth inning. Junior designated hitter Adrian Torres doubled and scored on a pair of wild pitches. Sophomore second baseman Elijah Buries had a two-out RBI single up the middle to push the lead back to five at 7-2.
Two more runs came across in the sixth when Andeel drove in a run on a single and scored a second run when the right fielder misplayed the ball.
GCU's largest tally of the day came in the seventh off the strength of the home runs by Aguilar and Andeel.
The Lopes only needed one inning of scoreless relief from freshman R.J. Elmore to get the game to the finish line due to the 10-run rule.
"You talk about just winning innings and I think, for the most part, we won every inning," Stankiewicz said. "When you do that, you've got a good chance at a win."
GCU takes a five-game winning streak into Sunday's series finale set for 11 a.m. (Phoenix time).
Avitia picked up his fourth win of the season. At one point, he had a string of seven outs all recorded by strikeout. Avitia's strikeout tally was the most by a Lopes pitcher since Jeff Swanson struck out 18 vs. San Francisco State on April 30, 2004.
"I felt really good," Avitia said. "There were a couple of pitches that didn't go my way and the wind took the ball but, other than that, I felt great."
Avitia has struck out a WAC-leading 54 batters in 44 1/3 innings this season.
"The fun thing about Daniel is he's got pace and presence which I love," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "He's got a great pace. He wants the ball on the mound and he takes the ball and he goes. There's no waiting around. Let's go. And his presence on the mound, he's confident and he's not afraid. He wants to attack Strike 1. I think, for a young man in his first year in college baseball, it's impressive."
Avitia was backed by one of GCU's best offensive days of the season. The 14-run total was the fourth-best performance by the Lopes (22-11, 12-2 WAC) this year, while the 19 hits marked the second-best output of the season.
"The at bats were really good," Stankiewicz said. "Tyler Wilson was nice and relaxed at the plate and seeing it well. Tayler Aguilar hit a big two-run homer by staying to the middle of the field. That's our development as an offense too is being able to use the middle of the diamond."
The Lopes homered a season-high four times to push its WAC West Division lead to three games ahead of California Baptist. Sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson got the scoring going in the first inning with a solo shot, his ninth homer of the season. Sophomore left fielder Cade Verdusco hit a three-run homer in the third inning for his first home run of the season. Junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar joined Wilson with nine, the team high, on the season after a three-run shot in the seventh. Freshman Maxwell Andeel finished the power surge off with a two-run homer in the seventh.
"That's a great couple of at bats by Andeel off the bench," Stankiewicz said. "A big knock and then a homer as well."
Tyler Wilson logged GCU's third five-hit game of the season, joining sophomore Homer Bush Jr., who tallied five hits at California Baptist on March 6, and Jacob Wilson, who had five against Utah Valley on March 19.
After Jacob Wilson's first-inning homer put the Lopes in front, GCU added four runs in the third to lead 5-0.
When Dixie State scored its first two runs in the third, GCU countered with two runs in the fourth inning. Junior designated hitter Adrian Torres doubled and scored on a pair of wild pitches. Sophomore second baseman Elijah Buries had a two-out RBI single up the middle to push the lead back to five at 7-2.
Two more runs came across in the sixth when Andeel drove in a run on a single and scored a second run when the right fielder misplayed the ball.
GCU's largest tally of the day came in the seventh off the strength of the home runs by Aguilar and Andeel.
The Lopes only needed one inning of scoreless relief from freshman R.J. Elmore to get the game to the finish line due to the 10-run rule.
"You talk about just winning innings and I think, for the most part, we won every inning," Stankiewicz said. "When you do that, you've got a good chance at a win."
GCU takes a five-game winning streak into Sunday's series finale set for 11 a.m. (Phoenix time).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Avitia, Daniel (4-3)
L: Holliday, Dillon (2-5)
Batting:
2B: Torres, Adrian 1 ; Bush Jr., Homer 1
HR: Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Aguilar, Tayler 1 ; Verdusco, Cade 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 1
RBI: Buries, Elijah 1 ; Wilson, Jacob 1 ; Aguilar, Tayler 4 ; Verdusco, Cade 3 ; Andeel, Maxwell 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Jacob 3 ; Wilson, Tyler 2 ; Aguilar, Tayler 3 ; Verdusco, Cade 3 ; Torres, Adrian 1 ; Andeel, Maxwell 1 ; Snedeker, Sy 1
SB: Wilson, Tyler 1
HBP: Verdusco, Cade 1
Batting:
2B: Leavitt, Jagun 1
HR: Taylor, Shane 1 ; Schmidt, Parker 1
RBI: Taylor, Shane 2 ; Schmidt, Parker 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor, Shane 1 ; Schmidt, Parker 1 ; Leavitt, Jagun 1
CS: Schmidt, Parker 1
HBP: Fisher, Tyson 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
5
RBI
0
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
4
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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OF
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RHP
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RHP
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INF
/ BaseballUTIL
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