Peterson's Blast Lifts Aztecs over GCU in 12-11 Slugfest

PHOENIX – San Diego State’s Tyce Peterson belted a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to break a 9-9 tie on Saturday, as the Aztecs held on for a wild 12-11 victory over Grand Canyon in the second game of a Mountain West series at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.

The two teams combined for 27 hits in the seesaw affair, including 14 for SDSU (14-14, 3-2 MW), which survived two grand slams to even the weekend series at one game apiece.

The Aztecs featured a balanced offense, as six different players collected two hits, including Peterson and Jackson, who scored three runs each, while Jabin Trosky (2 runs), Zach Justice (2 runs), Dawson Santana and Anthony Marnell IV also got into the act with two hits apiece.

Peterson’s blast made a winner of SDSU reliever Aidan Russell (4-1), who withstood a rocky fourth after entering for starter Drew Talavs. Russell gave up two runs on one hit and one walk in that inning but kept the Lopes (9-19, 1-4 MW) off the scoreboard for the remainder of his stint, allowing just two more hits to earn his fourth victory of the season.

Meanwhile, Bryce McKnight endured some anxious moments in the ninth before notching his second save of the year.

With the score knotted at 9-9 in the decisive frame, GCU closer Cam Cunnings (1-3) struck out Santana and induced a groundout to Zane Kelly before hitting Trosky in the back on a 3-2 pitch, which kept the inning alive. Justice promptly drew a four-pitch walk, setting the stage for Peterson’s heroics.

Peterson promptly drilled an 0-1 offering from Cunnings deep over the center field fence with a measured distance of 417 feet to score Trosky and Justice.

Suddenly trailing 12-9, the Lopes would not go quietly in their last trip to the plate, as Jake Sanko was struck by McKnight’s 3-2 pitch before advancing to third on Cannon Peery’s double down the left-field line. Moments later, Sanko raced home on Gunnar Penzkover’s sacrifice fly, while Peery scored on Dominic Chacon’s double to right center after Jose Lopez struck out.

With the tying run on second, McKnight quickly ended the suspense by inducing a groundout to short on the first pitch to Camden Bates, as the Aztec dugout breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The teams traded punches earlier in the contest, as Justice’s RBI double to the gap in left center brought home Trosky, who reached on a single to lead off the game.

However, the Lopes vaulted in front at 4-1 on Cameron Griffin’s grand slam with one out in the second.

Unfazed, the Aztecs erupted for five markers on seven hits in the third to reclaim a 6-4 advantage after sending 11 batters to the plate. Jackson’s two-run double highlighted the outburst following consecutive one-out singles by Justice and Peterson.

Magpoc, who knocked in Jackson with a ground-rule double to center just moments later, quickly stole third and eventually crossed the plate on Max Farrell’s single. Farrell soon took third on Marnell’s base hit up the middle before racing home on Santana’s squeeze bunt.

The teams traded runs in the next two half-innings as Lopez delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the third, while Jackson reached on a fielding error in the top of the fourth and later scored on Marnell’s second hit of the day. Magpoc, who previously walked and took third on Marnell’s single was tagged out at the plate on an apparent wild pitch from GCU starter Garrett Ahern. However, catcher Mito Perez recovered the loose ball, which took a fortuitous bounce off the backstop towards the plate.

SDSU’s precarious 7-5 lead quickly evaporated in the bottom of the fourth when Sanko unloaded on an 0-1 pitch from Russell for the Lopes’ second grand slam of the contest. Previously, Cameron led off with a single to right and stole second, while Billy Scaldeferri was hit by a pitch, spelling the end of Talavs’ stint for the Aztecs, before Russell entered and issued a walk to Perez, which loaded the bases.

As typical of the 2026 campaign thus far, SDSU flashed its trademark resiliency with two runs on two hits in the sixth to forge a 9-9 deadlock. Peterson drew a leadoff walk from Lopes reliever Nicholas Robb and promptly took third on Jackson’s single up the middle. Shortly thereafter, Magpoc plated Peterson with a sacrifice fly to left, while Jackson scored from second following a walk to Farrell and Santana’s clutch two-out single to center.

Scaldeferri singled to lead off the sixth and eighth for GCU but was left stranded after Russell retired the next three batters on both occasions to avoid trouble.

Along with Cameron’s and Sanko’s slams, Bates led all players with three hits for the Lopes in the loss.

San Diego State and Grand Canyon will square off in the rubber game of their weekend series on Sunday, March 29 at noon PDT. The Aztecs-Lopes clash will air live on the Mountain West Network.