McDonald drives in three in victory over Chicago State

Friday, April 29

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 P.M.

Grand Canyon

20-19-1, 0

Chicago State

9-33, 0

Chicago State

Grand Canyon

McDonald drives in three in victory over Chicago State

4/29/2016 10:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon baseball team defeated Chicago State 7-2 at Brazell Stadium on Friday night. The Lopes combined for seven runs on 10 hits led by Jared McDonald's three-RBI performance.

Catcher Jared McDonald had a career night as he went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored, leading the Lopes to a seven-run and 10-hit performance. The freshman's three RBIs were a career-high in his eight start of his collegiate career.

"I got ahead on counts, got good pitches to hit and stayed with my approach," McDonald said. "I mean, we work on it all the time. The goal is to get the run in and I just got good pitches to do it. Just stay with the approach."

Jake Repavich pitched a gem in his second straight Friday night start. Tossing 4.1 innings, the sophomore yielded just one run on six hits, striking out three Cougars. With a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, Repavich escaped as Mick Vorhof took over and got CSU to ground into a double play to keep the Cougars off the board.

"It felt good to be back at Brazell," Assistant Coach Gregg Wallis said. "It is nice to wear short sleeves and not too much wind. We came out and executed well early. Austin Bull came out and had a 13-pitch at bat as the second hitter of the game and got on base for Gary to drive him in. It put us in a pretty good situation. We executed and our pitchers did a great job to keeping them off the score board."

The Lopes got off to an early 1-0 lead in the opening frame. Austin Bull got things started for the Lopes as he walked after a 13-pitch at bat. After an error by the Courgars' catcher, Garrison Schwartz singled to right field, scoring the first Lopes' run of the game. GCU kept the pressure on as a walk by Greg Saenz set up the Lopes to take 2-0 lead.

The Cougars were held scoreless through three innings before responding in the fourth. After a hit by pitch put a Cougar on base, a two-out triple by Sanford Hunt drove in the Cougars' first run of the game to cut the lead in half.

The Lopes quickly responded with a two-run home half of the fourth. Saenz once again got things started for GCU, doubling to center field. A single by McDonald in the nine-hole of the lineup sent Saenz across the plate for the Lopes' first run of the game. The next batter, Thomas Lerouge, singled up the middle to score McDonald as GCU took a 4-1 lead.

The Lopes showed grit in the fifth inning as a bases-loaded jam with no outs threatened the Lopes' 4-1 lead. After Repavich got a fly ball for the first out, Vorhof took over on the mound and got the Cougars to ground into a double play as the score remained the same. In the bottom half of the fifth, Zach Malis got things started for the Lopes with a single to right-center field. Tyler Wyatt followed with a double to deep center field, scoring Malis and extending the Lopes' lead to 5-1. The Lopes were not done scoring as a bases-loaded single to left field by McDonald crossed another run for the freshman's third RBI of the game and the Lopes never looked back.

"Cameron Brendel should be ready to go tomorrow," Wallis said. "After graduation, he will have his normal rest for tomorrow and that will be a plus for us so he can come out and throw strikes."

The Lopes take on the Cougars in Game 2 on Saturday, April 30 at Brazell Stadium as first pitch is set for 7 p.m.