'Lopes Fall to St. Edward's, Eliminated from NCAA Division II Baseball Championship

Wednesday, May 29

Cary, N.C.

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

40-19

St. Edward's

44-17

Grand Canyon

St. Edward's

Derek Mendoza

'Lopes Fall to St. Edward's, Eliminated from NCAA Division II Baseball Championship

5/29/2013 7:03:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Conclude 2013 campaign with 40 wins, most since 1990

The Grand Canyon University baseball team’s fantastic 2013 campaign came to a close tonight with a hard fought, 9-5 defeat at the hands of St. Edward’s in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship in Cary, N.C. The Antelopes conclude the season with a 40-19 overall record, their most wins since the 1990 squad won 43 contests. GCU reached the national tournament for the first time since joining Division II in 1999.

The Hilltoppers improved to 44-17 and will advance in the tournament to play Minnesota State - Mankato tomorrow at 4 p.m. (Arizona time). Those two join Tampa and Grand Valley State as the four remaining teams in the tournament.

Click here to view the postgame press conference with head coach Andy Stankiewicz, reliever Trent Wilson, and left fielder Brandon Smith.

Be sure to like the GCU Athletics Facebook page for photos from all of the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship action.

St. Edward’s found themselves with an early 7-0 lead after just 2.0 innings, but GCU chipped away at that lead, scoring five runs over the next 5.0 innings while allowing just one to the Hilltoppers in that time.

Starter Coley Bruns was charged with 7 runs (6 earned) on 8 hits with a strikeout in 1.0 inning of work to fall to 7-3 on the season. Trent Wilson came in relief of Bruns in the second inning, tossing 4.0 effective innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and a walk with 3 strikeouts.

GCU was led offensively by Michael Pomeroy, who went 3-for-4 with 2 runs and an RBI. Derek Mendoza, Brandon Smith, and Kyle Raidy each collected 2 hits, while Smith led the squad with 2 RBI.

The Hilltoppers scored first with four consecutive two-out hits to claim an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. In the following inning, the first two batters reached via single and hit by pitch. A throwing error by Steven Swingle allowed one run to score and put runners at second and third with no outs on the board. St. Edward’s tacked on three more runs without recording an out before Wilson came in and promptly recorded a strikeout and double play.

GCU got on the board in the fourth inning after opening the frame with three consecutive hits, including an RBI double off the bat of Smith. In the fifth, Pomeroy plated Brian Kraft with a two-out RBI single to right-center field to record the second run of the game for the ‘Lopes.

The Hilltoppers put another run on the board in the fifth inning, again with two outs. Wilson allowed a walk and back-to-back hits before Raidy ended the frame on a putout at third base.

The ‘Lopes had the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth inning, but a ground out to the first baseman ended the threat for St. Edward’s.

In the seventh, GCU loaded the bases with no outs on the board following two walks and a base hit. Smith drew a walk to collect his second RBI of the game and make it an 8-3 game, still without an out on the board. The next batter, Charles Wagner, hit a ball just past the second baseman to plate GCU’s second run of the inning as the ‘Lopes cut the lead in half at 8-4. Chris Lindmark's sacrifice fly to right plated Mendoza as GCU pulled within three runs before the inning was over.

GCU had two baserunners on in the eighth, but were unable to get a run across. In their half of the frame, the Hilltoppers had the bases loaded with one out and plated one more run and extend their lead to 9-5, where it would hold in the top of the ninth.

Go to NCAA.com for a video recap of Day 5 of the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship and a link to watch the full replay of today's game.

SEU 9, GCU 5