Baseball falls short in series finale comeback

Monday, April 11

Phoenix, Ariz.

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

15-16, 0

New Mexico State

20-12, 0

New Mexico State

Grand Canyon

4/11/2016 3:29:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX – After the series finale was postponed due to rain, the Grand Canyon baseball team fell short in a comeback losing 7-6 to New Mexico State on Monday afternoon. GCU finished the game with five leadoff hits and 4-for-13 hitting with runners in scoring position.

"We fed the rally late and there has to be a sense of urgency early," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "We are just waiting to see what happens rather than rallying now rather than later, and it's too late. We haven't been playing well from start to finish in all three games and as a result we went 0-3."

The Lopes took an early lead after Thomas Lerouge got things started for the Lopes with a single up the middle in the bottom of the first. After a sac-bunt and error by New Mexico State, GCU had two runners in scoring position that set up Garrison Schwartz's two-RBI single to give the Lopes an early 2-0 lead. Lopes defense was not spectacular today as the Aggies scored their first runs of the game in the top of the third after back to back singles up the middle and an error giving them a 3-2 lead.

"It's frustrating because we always reflect that we are a better ball club," said Stankiewicz. "We found a way to put ourselves in a tough spot as we continue to play through conference play. There can be no more hiccups and hopefully we can learn from this experience. We need to commit and not let mistakes like this happen again."

In his third start of the season, Wong (0-2) tossed a career-high 6.0 innings, yielding four runs, two earned as the three Lopes errors turned out to be costly.

After a leadoff single by Lerouge in the bottom of the third set up an RBI single by Paul Panaccione, the Lopes evened the score 3-3.

It was not until the top of the fifth for the Aggies to start to pull away as another Lopes' error scored an Aggies run. In the top of the sixth, a couple of singles led to a three-run homer to give New Mexico State a 7-3 over the Lopes.

The Lopes fought back in the bottom of the eighth as three Aggies errors scored cut their lead to 7-6. After a hit by pitch, a couple errors and a single by Zach Malis loaded the bases, Greg Saenz singled up the middle to score the Lopes first run of the inning. The Lopes were not done scoring as Skylar Wengert hit a hard ground ball through the first basemen's legs for another Aggies error to score two run and cut the lead to 7-6.

The Lopes had runner on the corners in the bottom of the ninth but ultimately fell short in their come back.

GCU will be on the road as they travel to Seattle to take on the Redhawks in a three-game series starting on Friday, April 15. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.