Wyatt's eight brilliant innings, three hits lead GCU to win

Saturday, April 23

Grand Forks, N.D.

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

18-18, 0

North Dakota

6-23, 0

Grand Canyon

North Dakota

Wyatt's eight brilliant innings, three hits lead GCU to win

4/23/2016 2:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Josh Hauser

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Tyler Wyatt tossed eight five-hit innings and went 3-for-5 from the plate with two RBIs as Grand Canyon topped North Dakota 8-2 on Saturday afternoon at Kraft Field. Wyatt picked up his first collegiate victory on the mound to go along with his first three-hit day.

"I felt great. I just tried to stay simple, stay short with everything and just pitch to contact," Wyatt said. "I let my fielders work -- I have eight of them out there behind me -- so might as well let them work."

Wyatt set a career high with 8.0 innings of work while tying his career-best mark of five strikeouts. His bid for a complete game shutout, which was intact through eight full innings, ended as he allowed two runs in the home-half of the ninth.

"It was mainly my fastball and my changeup with the breaking ball coming in here and there," Wyatt said. "I hit my spots and I let my defense work behind me. I try to stay calm with everything. You can't get too high or too low. It helps me relax if I'm loose before the game. That was the recipe for success."

Backing up Wyatt's pitching, the Lopes logged 14 base hits -- the fourth time this season with 14 or more hits. Both Wyatt and Krsythian Leal had three-hit days with a pair of RBIs for both batters. Thomas Lerouge, Zach Malis and Preston Pavlica also had multi-hit days to aid the GCU effort.

"We're certainly starting to swing the bats better. It's a good sign," assistant coach Gregg Wallis said. "We shortened up our swings a little bit and used the middle of the field. It looks like the guys are starting to roll a little bit with the bats."

Grand Canyon flashed the power as well with both Malis and Lerouge slugging no-doubt home runs to right field. Malis' third homer of the season came in the fourth inning and gave the Lopes a 1-0 lead. Lerouge tagged a pitch for his second career homer, extending the Lopes' lead to 4-0 in the seventh inning.

"They got into a couple of balls really good," Wallis said. "UND's pitcher left a pitch up, and they made him pay. It was a good approach by those guys and they got a good swing on those balls."

The Lopes jumped on the board for the first time in the fourth inning. After Malis homered, Preston Pavlica drew a walk, advanced two bases on a dribbling ground out, and scored on a dropped third strike to put GCU in front 2-0.

Grand Canyon poured on the runs late in the ballgame, scoring five runs in the final three frames. Leal had a pair of RBI singles, Wyatt tripled and singled in runs, and Jared McDonald picked up his first career RBI on a sacrifice fly. Amid the Lopes' offensive attack, Malis managed to score three times and pick up his first career stolen base.

GCU eyes a series sweep when the teams reconvene at Kraft Field for the series finale on Sunday. The Lopes will start RHP Cameron Brendel (3-2, 5.23 ERA) who will be opposed by RHP McKay McNair (1-3, 4.54 ERA). First pitch is set for 10 a.m. MST with the Lopes Warmup Show starting at 9:45 a.m. MST on the GCU Radio Network.