Pavlica homers twice in loss to Kansas State

Wednesday, April 27

Manhattan, Kan.

4:35 P.M.

Grand Canyon

19-19-1

Kansas State

19-22

Grand Canyon

Kansas State

4/27/2016 8:39:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Josh Hauser

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Grand Canyon recovered from an early deficit to tie the score at five, but the Lopes went on to lose to Kansas State 10-6 at Tointon Family Stadium on Wednesday night. The Lopes end eight straight games away from Phoenix with a record of 4-3-1.

Preston Pavlica left the yard twice with homers to left-center field, the freshman's second and third long balls of the season. In the second inning, Pavlica's solo shot put GCU on the board while another solo shot in the eighth inning scored the Lopes' sixth run. Pavlica's two-homer game marked the first multi-home run game for a Grand Canyon batter since Chad De La Guerra hit two vs. Texas-Pan American on April 4, 2015.

"We swung the bats well enough to win," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "Some guys had great nights. Pavlica had a great day at the plate. Hopefully we can build on that."

The Wildcats got to work early with four runs in the first inning. Ethan Evanko, returning to the mound for the first time since March 19, nearly escaped an early jam with just one run of damage. But Kansas State second baseman Tyler Wolfe connected on a 3-2 pitch with two outs that snuck over the wall in straightaway center field, and the Wildcats jumped out to an early 4-0 lead.

Kansas State recorded five two-out RBIs on the evening compared to none for Grand Canyon.

"We talk about minimizing innings all the time," Stankiewicz said. "We gave up four runs in the first and three runs in the fifth. We haven't been good at stopping the bleeding. If the opponent scores two, okay, they score two. Let's stop it there. That's been our nemesis all year."

Grand Canyon came all the way back in the fourth inning thanks to three hits and three walks. Zach Malis, Pavlica and Tyler Wyatt opened up the inning with three consecutive hits, with the latter scoring a run. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks drawn by Greg Saenz and Jared McDonald pulled the Lopes within a run before a run-scoring fielder's choice from Thomas Lerouge tied the score.

Once again, however, the Wildcats restored their full four-run lead. Kansas State quickly responded in the bottom of the fourth with another ball sneaking out of the windy park. Left fielder Quintin Crandall got ahold of a 1-0 pitch for his first homer of the season, granting K-State the 6-5 edge. Kansas State scored three runs in the fifth inning to push its advantage to 9-5.

Pavlica ended with three hits on the evening while Wyatt also had a multi-hit evening.

Grand Canyon returns to Phoenix for the first time since April 11. The Lopes will host Chicago State in a three-game WAC series spanning Friday through Sunday.

"We have to play better at home," Stankiewicz said. "We're looking forward to getting back home to Brazell and playing our style of baseball."

First pitch from Brazell Stadium is set for 7 p.m. in the series opener. The game will be available on the GCU Radio Network as well as the WAC Digital Network.