The Grand Canyon University baseball team (14-11) dropped a 4-2 decision to visiting Santa Clara (10-12) Tuesday night at Brazell Stadium in Phoenix, Ariz.
The Antelopes struck first, as they pushed a run across in the home half of the second to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Broncos answered with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 advantage and cushioned their lead with two in the ninth.
The Lopes chipped away at the Santa Clara lead in the bottom of the ninth when
Garrison Schwartz doubled to right, plating
Paul Panaccione, but GCU was unable to string together any more late-inning magic, falling 4-2.
"We haven't been as sharp as we should be with our hit and run and getting runners over for being midway through the year," said head coach Andy Stankiewicz.
Freshman
Jake Repavich (4-1), who has gotten off to a hot start in his rookie campaign, suffered his first loss in the circle despite a solid outing. The left-hander went 5.2 innings, surrendering just two runs on four hits.
Mick Vorhof and
Travis Garcia-Perreira came out of the pen and combined to toss 2.1 innings of shutout ball.
"I thought he (Repavich) pitched well," said Stankiewicz. "He continues to just throw strikes and he's been solid and so consistent on the mound."
"Mick came in and got some big outs when we needed them," added Stankiewicz. "Travis did a nice job of doing what he is supposed to do. He's here to get lefties out and those are all good hitters and he had a good, clean inning."
Offensively, the Lopes were led by
David Walker, Schwartz and
Thomas Lerouge, who all picked up a pair of hits.
The Lopes and Broncos will close out their two-game set with a 2:30 p.m. contest Wednesday at Brazell Stadium. Fans can find a link for live stats to follow Wednesday's action at
www.gculopes.com.
Santa Clara 4, GCU 2