Baseball Evens Series at Bakersfield With Program's First WAC Win Since 1998

Saturday, March 15

Bakersfield, CA

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

8-9, 1-1

Bakersfield

7-10, 1-1

Grand Canyon

Bakersfield

Scott Serigstad secured his second save in as many tries tonight

Photo by: Theon Carrier

Baseball Evens Series at Bakersfield With Program's First WAC Win Since 1998

3/15/2014 8:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

'Lopes are making their return to the WAC for first time in 16 years

The second game of the series between the Grand Canyon University baseball team (8-9) and CSU Bakersfield (7-10) was of historic significance for the program, as the Antelopes picked up their first Western Athletic Conference victory since May 8, 1998 (16-10 victory at BYU) in just their second attempt after returning to the WAC this season. Tonight's 5-4 win evened the series (1-1) between the 'Lopes and the preseason favorite Roadrunners.

The GCU baseball team was previously a member of the conference from 1995-98.

The 'Lopes improved to 6-2 in games in which they score first after jumping out to an early 2-0 lead following the first three innings and extending that to 5-0 thanks to a three-run fifth.

"This is special because you have a sophomore (Andrew Naderer) and two freshman (Ethan Evanko and Scott Serigstad) coming in and helping us secure our first WAC win with this group," said head coach Andy Stankiewicz.

GCU starter Andrew Naderer went 7.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits without issuing a walk and four strikeouts to improve to 3-2 this season. He allowed just three hits over the first six innings and did not surrender a run until the 'Runners had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh. CSUB scored three times in that frame after collecting three of their six hits up to that point.

Reliever Scott Serigstad earned his second save of the season after tossing 1.1 scoreless frames.

Offensively, David Walker, Chad De La Guerra, Humberto Aranda, Matt Haggerty, Charles Wagner, and Chris Lindmark each collected a hit for GCU. Aranda had two RBI, while De La Guerra and Lindmark also added one apiece.

Lindmark put the 'Lopes on the board first with an RBI double down the right field line to plate Wagner in the second inning, who led off the frame with a single to right. GCU added another run in the following inning when De La Guerra's single to left-center scored Walker, who opened the frame with a walk.

The 'Lopes had the bases loaded with just one out in the top of the fifth, and Aranda took advantage of the opportunity as he singled to left field and was credited with two RBI after an error by the left fielder allowed the third run to score. That gave GCU the 5-0 lead heading into the bottom half of the frame.

"We've done well when we jump out early," added Stankiewicz. "Before the game, we talked about being ready right from the start and having good at-bats early. It was good to kind of breathe a sigh of relief. But they (CSUB) are a good team, and they are not going to go away. So we have to have better at-bats in the middle innings. I think we kind of went into cruise control, and we can't afford to do that. But tonight we had some big hits and made big pitches when we had to."

The 'Runners scored three times in the seventh after their first three batters reached via a hit by pitch and back-to-back singles. CSUB loaded the bases again in the eighth inning after already plating one run to pull within 5-4, but Serigstad induced a groundout to first to end the threat. He allowed a single in the ninth, but retired his final two batters to end the game.

"Scott has always been a strike thrower, and his whole career he has been able to throw strikes along with a nice slider," Stankiewicz said. "His slider is a good pitch for him, and his fastball has sink. I'm proud of his effort tonight. It's good to see that he has bought into the role as our closer."

The series concludes tomorrow with first pitch slated for 1 p.m. Fans can tune in to Independent Talk 1100 AM KFNX, www.1100kfnx.com, or by downloading the TuneIn Radio app on a smartphone. The pregame show with Michael Potter will get underway at 12:50 p.m.

GCU 5, CSUB 4