Baseball Wins Fifth Straight

Monday, March 31

Reno, NV

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

15-11

Nevada

12-13

Grand Canyon

Nevada

Paul Panaccione went 3-for-4 in the series opener at Nevada

Photo by: Theon Carrier

3/31/2014 8:46:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Defeat Nevada 4-0 in non-conference meeting

The Grand Canyon University baseball team (15-11, 5-1 WAC) used an eighth inning rally to win their season-high fifth straight game, this time a 4-0 victory over Nevada (12-13, 6-6 MWC) on a chilly night at Peccole Park in Reno, Nev. The midweek, non-conference series between the Antelopes and Wolf Pack is their first meeting since 1995.

It was the second shutout of the year for the Lopes, as they picked up a 14-0 win over Omaha on March 8 at Brazell Stadium.

"Im proud of the guys," said head coach Andy Stankiewicz. "It was a travel day for us and we basically had to unpack and go to the field. The team could have easily cashed it in tonight. But they made big plays when they had to."

Ethan Evanko had yet another strong start for the Lopes, tossing 6.0 scoreless frames, allowing seven hits and two walks with a strikeout but did not factor into the decision. Over his last five appearances (three starts), the freshman lefty has allowed just two earned runs over 20.1 innings of work, including holding the opposition scoreless in his last 9.2 innings.

"Ethan just refused to give in on the mound," added Stankiewciz.

With 3.0 perfect innings of relief, Kyle Detwiler picked up his first win of the season. He collected three strikeouts in tonight's outing.

Offensively, GCU was led by Paul Panaccione with three hits, while David Walker and Michael Pomeroy added two hits apiece. Chad De La Guerra picked up two RBI. Matt Haggerty and Panaccione also plated a run for the Lopes.

GCU had baserunners on in each of the first six innings, including a man on third with two outs in the fifth, but were unable to get on the board. Evanko answered on the mound, holding the Wolf Pack scoreless over those same frames.

Panaccione singled to center field with one out in the eighth and advanced to third on Walker's second hit of the game. Pinch hitter Josh Ethier loaded the bases with a walk and De La Guerra promptly singled down the right field line to plate the first two runs of the contest. Haggerty's sacrifice bunt made it a 3-0 game in favor of GCU before the inning was over.

The Lopes added a run in the ninth after Pomeroy opened the inning with a single up the middle. After moving over on a sacrifice bunt by Josh Meyer and groundout by Brandon Smith, Panaccione plated Pomeroy with an RBI single into center field, his third base knock of the night.

"In that eighth inning, we put good at-bats together and had some key hits," Stankiewicz said. "Josh's pinch-hit walk was big as well. We did what we needed to do to win, which was getting some key hits late and putting pressure on them. This was a good win for us."

GCU will conclude their series at Nevada tomorrow with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. Fans can follow all of the action live by visiting www.gculopes.com.

GCU 4, Nevada 0