Smith’s Six RBI Propel Lopes to Series Sweep

Sunday, March 22

Brazell Stadium

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-10, 0

North Dakota

5-13, 0

North Dakota

Grand Canyon

Brandon Smith

Photo by: Darryl Webb

3/22/2015 2:34:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

GCU picks up 11-1 run-rule win over North Dakota

The Grand Canyon University baseball team completed its Western Athletic Conference (WAC)-opening weekend with an 11-1 seven-inning run-rule victory over North Dakota Sunday at Brazell Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz. With the win, the Antelopes complete the series sweep of UND for the second-consecutive year.

GCU improves to 14-10 and 3-0 in Western Athletic Conference (WAC), while North Dakota dropped to 5-13 and 0-3 in conference play.

The Lopes struck early and often, scoring three times in the first and added on five more in the second to jump out to an early 8-0 lead through two innings.

Brandon Smith had a monster day at the plate for the Lopes, as a three-run home run in the first and a bases-clearing triple in the second highlighted the junior's banner day. Smith finished 3-for-4 with six RBI and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle.

"Brandon had a great day and I was really encouraged by his first at-bat today," said head coach Andy Stankiewicz. "It was good to see him step in right from the get-go with the home run and then carry that over to his next at-bats."

Cameron Brendel got the nod on the hill and evened his season record at 3-3 after tossing the first five innings Sunday to pick up the win. The junior right-hander allowed just one run, while fanning seven before giving way to Ethan Evanko, who threw two scoreless innings of relief ball. Evanko surrendered just one hit and recorded three strike outs in his relief effort.

"Cameron did a nice job," said Stankiewicz. "He established his fastball early and then set them (North Dakota) up later for changeup and slider. All in all it was a nice performance out of him."

"It was good to see Ethan pitch well and get his pitch count up a little bit," added Stankiewicz. "We will need him down the stretch this year and he said his arm felt good after, which is great to hear."

David Walker, Paul Panaccione and Thomas Lerouge each contributed to the offensive attack with a pair of hits.

The Lopes will now welcome Santa Clara to Brazell Stadium for a pair of midweek games. The Lopes and Broncos will open their two-game set with a 6:30 p.m. contest on Tuesday evening. Fans can find more information on the 2015 baseball season at www.gculopes.com.

GCU 11, UND 1 (7)