Second baseman Brodie Kresser drove home three RBIs and West Virginia advanced in the Tucson Regional, beating GCU 5-2 on Saturday night.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Starter Tyler Switalski pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on six hits and struck out three Lopes in West Virginia’s second win of the regional. The Mountaineers collected six hits as Kresser went 2-for-3.
Right fielder Eddy Pelc led Grand Canyon’s (35-24) offense with two hits while Hunter Watkins allowed a run on two hits. The Lopes are 1-1 in the regional following them defeating Arizona 9-4 on Friday.
Mountaineers Deal Early Damage, GCU Threaten Late
Carrying his offensive firepower on Friday into Saturday night, Pelc flew out to left for designated hitter Beau Ankeney to score, giving GCU a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Grand Canyon was looking to advance to the regional final for the first time as an NCAA Division 1 program, but West Virginia spoiled their momentum.
Kresser tied the game 1-1 with an RBI single in the second inning before a four-run fourth. With the bases loaded, Kresser hit a two-run single to left, right fielder Ben Lumsden had an RBI single and center fielder Skylar King popped a sacrifice fly to center for another, constructing a 5-1 margin.
After Watkins threw two innings, Connor Mattison entered the game and ran into trouble with giving up the four-run barrage. Mattison allowed four runs on two hits and walked two batters.
From there on, both teams’ defense and pitching took over until GCU piled on the pressure late.
In the eighth, Lopes star Tyler Wilson crushed the ball high in the air to right field and thought it was gone for a homer. But as it descended from the sky, Lumsden caught it at the warning track, keeping the game 5-1 WVU.
GCU would get on the board again courtesy of an RBI single by Dustin Crenshaw and the bases were loaded. With a chance for a walkoff grandslam to win the game, the Lopes were unable to take advantage.
With the win, West Virginia advances to the final and will await the winner of GCU and Dallas Baptist. The Lopes and Patriots clash Sunday at noon and the winner will face WVU in another game at 6 p.m. PT.
GCU Baseball upsets Arizona for first NCAA Tournament win as Division I program, 9-4
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
