Lopes Win Long Series Finale at Seattle

Sunday, May 4

Seattle, WA

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

25-19, 14-7

Seattle U

22-21, 10-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Grand Canyon	1	0	2	0	4	0	0	2	1	10	16	3
Seattle U	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1	1	6	10	2

Michael Pomeroy established season-bests with 4 hits and 4 RBI in the series finale win over Seattle U

Photo by: Theon Carrier

5/4/2014 5:05:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Game started yesterday concludes over 24 hours later

It took over 24 hours, but the Grand Canyon University baseball team (25-19, 14-7 WAC) won their sixth Western Athletic Conference series following their 10-6 victory over Seattle University (22-21, 10-8 WAC) today at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, Wash. The game started yesterday at 2 p.m., but following two rain delays was halted until a 3 p.m. pitch today.

It was the fourth straight WAC series victory for the Lopes.

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

The game was originally halted at 3:58 p.m. yesterday and the umpires and coaches agreed to conclude the game today nearly three hours later. There was a 28-minute rain delay just four minutes into the contest, but the two teams were able to play four and a half innings before the weather was deemed unplayable.

"First off, we are appreciative to the Seattle U staff for doing the work and getting the field ready to play," said head coach Andy Stankiewicz. "Regardless of coming back and winning or losing, you want to finish what you started. Our guys responded well. It took a while to get this series win, but anytime you can get one, you will take it."

The Lopes recorded their 18^th double-digit hitting effort (16) and eighth game with double-digit runs scored. Michael Pomeroy led the offensive effort after collecting four hits and four RBI, both of which are season-highs, while extending his hitting streak to nine games.

Chad De La Guerra picked up three hits and two runs scored as he made it a 14-game hit streak. David Walker went 1-for-5 to extend his streak to 10-games.

Paul Panaccione also had three hits for GCU, while Ben Mauseth and Jon Kealoha each had two.

Malcolm Purdy picked up the win (5-4) after allowing just an unearned run over 2.0 innings of relief. Coley Bruns got the start yesterday and pitched four strong innings before the game was halted. He allowed an unearned run on four hits and two walks with a strikeout.

"Malcolm and Jaren Drummond picked us up in a big way," said Stankiewicz. "We needed our relievers to come in and throw some strikes, and that is exactly what they did."

GCU threatened early in the first after Walker and Panaccione had back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third with nobody out. A sacrifice fly to centerfield plated the first run of the game as GCU staked the 1-0 lead.

The Lopes loaded the bases with just one out on the board in the third and tacked on two more runs to build the 3-0 advantage. Josh Meyer plated Walker with a fielder's choice and was followed by an RBI single to right field off the bat of Pomeroy to score Panaccione.

Seattle had their first scoring opportunity in the third, with runners on first and second, but a runner's interference call ended the frame. The following inning, the Redhawks threatened again, this time with runners on second and third and one out on the board. However, Bruns recorded a strikeout and groundout to keep Seattle off the board.

GCU loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth and took advantage of the opportunity by scoring four runs to make it a 7-0 game. Pomeroy matched his season-best in RBI by plating two runs on a double to right-centerfield. Mauseth also picked up an RBI in the inning.

Resuming the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Redhawks loaded the bases after reliever Kyle Detwiler retired his first batter with the first out of the frame. A walk handed Seattle their first run of the contest before a double play ended the inning.

The Redhawks tacked on three more runs in the sixth to pull within 7-4 of the Lopes.

GCU got two runs back in the eighth, both of which came with two outs on the board. De La Guerra singled up the middle and moved to second on walk to Meyer. Pomeroy picked up his fourth hit and fourth RBI with a single down the right field line. A fielder's choice combined with a Seattle error allowed Meyer to cross home and extend GCU's lead to 9-4.

Seattle scored a run in the eighth and ninth, but GCU was able to get one of their own in the top of the ninth to keep the momentum on their side.

"This was a good win," added Stankiewicz. "They scored some runs in the middle innings but we responded by getting some runs on the board over the final two innings. The boys stayed on it, and we made some nice plays. We really played well in the end. I'm proud of the way they did it. You always want to take a series. We are still very much in the hunt."

GCU will remain in Seattle to take on seventh-ranked Washington tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Husky Ballpark in a non-conference matchup. The game can be heard live by tuning in to Independent Talk 1100 AM KFNX (online at www.1100kfnx.com or via the TuneIn Radio app on any smartphone).

GCU 10, SU 6