Late Aggies Rally Downs GCU

Saturday, April 26

Brazell Stadium

6:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

22-18, 11-6

New Mexico State

17-21, 8-6

New Mexico State

Grand Canyon

Garrett Jeffries went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the second game versus New Mexico State

Photo by: Darryl Webb

4/26/2014 9:56:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Rubber match between the Lopes and Aggies slated for 12:30 p.m. tomorrow

The New Mexico State baseball team (17-21, 8-6 WAC) rallied late for the second straight game and took a close 2-1 victory over Grand Canyon University (22-18, 11-6 WAC) tonight at Brazell Stadium. The Antelopes led early and after the Aggies tied the score in the fourth inning, neither team pushed a run across until New Mexico State plated the game-winner with two outs in the ninth.

Click here for Michael Potter's postgame interview with assistant coach Nathan Choate.

"This was a really good baseball game," said head coach Andy Stankiewicz. "We got one early and certainly had our opportunities, but we came out of the strike zone too much. We need better at-bats in those situations. It was a back-and-forth game where they made some big plays and we made some big plays. This is one of those tough games, but we are in a situation to get a series win tomorrow."

Starter Coley Bruns did not factor in the decision, allowing a run on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 6.0 innings. It marked the sixth time this season that he has tossed at least 6.0 innings and allowed two or fewer runs.

Malcolm Purdy (4-3), who has had a string of excellent outings over his past five appearances, was charged with the loss after the game-winner scored in the top of the ninth.

Offensively, Chad De La Guerra extended his hit streak to 10 games, while he has now reached base safely in 17 straight, after going 2-for-4 at the plate. Garrett Jeffries also collected two hits and scored the GCU's lone run, which came via an RBI from Michael Pomeroy, who upped his hit streak to five games.

David Walker also extended his hit streak to six games after going 1-for-4.

GCU jumped out to an early lead after loading the bases via back-to-back singles and an error by the Aggies shortstop. Pomeroy put the Lopes on the board with an RBI single into right field to score Jeffries and put GCU ahead 1-0.

After both pitchers recorded zeroes over the next three frames, the Aggies knotted the score at one after collecting three straight two-out singles.

Bruns made a great play at home for the third out of the sixth inning to keep the game tied at one.

New Mexico State returned the favor by getting Walker at home with the third out of the seventh inning. Walker doubled with two outs and tried to score on De La Guerra's single to left field two batters later but was called out at the plate as the game remained tied.

"I thought the momentum may have shifted when they threw David out at home," added Stankiewicz. "He got a little emotional and we have to learn to take the emotion out of it. That was a good momentum shift for them and they took advantage of it. We put ourselves in some good spots, and it is frustrating to get a loss, but it was a well-played game on both sides."

The Aggies threatened again in the eighth with three consecutive one-out hits, but a nice play by Kraft to get an out at third secured the scoreless frame for Purdy. However, the Aggies were able to push a run across in the top of the ninth after a leadoff double eventually came around to score on a two-out single to left field.

The series concludes tomorrow with game time slated for 12:30 p.m. Fans can follow the action live by tuning in to Independent Talk 1100 AM KFNX (online at www.1100kfnx.com or via the TuneIn Radio app on any smartphone).

NMSU 2, GCU 1