Barnes homers, Lopes drop finale in Wichita

Sunday, February 26

Wichita, Kansas

12:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

2-4

Wichita State

6-0

Grand Canyon

Wichita State

Photo by: Wichita State Athletics

2/26/2017 3:12:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Josh Hauser

WICHITA, Kan. - Griffin Barnes hit his first career home run, but the Grand Canyon baseball team dropped the series finale to Wichita State, 5-3. The Lopes had a bases-loaded, one-out scoring opportunity in the eighth but finished the day 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the loss.

After a momentous series victory over No. 22 Oklahoma State last weekend, Grand Canyon returns home with a 2-4 mark on the year. The Shockers improve to 6-0 with a pair of series sweeps over WAC opponents.

On the bright side for GCU, the Lopes' bullpen combination of Bobby Milacki, AJ Franks and Mick Vorhof tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball, keeping the Lopes in the game all the way through the final out.

After Austin Bull was stranded at third in the opening inning, GCU posted its first run of the series in the second inning. Preston Pavlica beat out an infield single and forced a wild throw to begin the inning with a runner on second base. The sophomore moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt and broke the Lopes' scoring drought by scoring on a passed ball to give GCU the early lead.

Wichita State quickly erased the Lopes' brief lead with a three-hit, two-run second inning. The Shockers' second score of the inning came on a close call at the plate, with Barnes tagging out the runner a split-second late.

Adding to their lead, Shockers' third baseman Alec Bohm tagged the first pitch of the third inning for a home run to left-center field.

The Lopes got a run back in the fourth inning when Zach Malis served a 1-2 pitch into right field to score Cuba Bess from second base.

The back-and-forth scoring affair continued when the Bohm hit his second homer of the day, this time a two-run blast, once again on the first pitch he saw.

With Wichita State turning to its bullpen for the fifth inning, Barnes greeted reliever Codi Heuer by homering to left field. The solo homer pulled the Lopes back within two runs on Barnes' first career long ball.

Trailing 5-3, the Lopes looked poised for a big eighth inning with Ian Evans doubling and Bess singling to place runners on the corners with just one away. Pavlica worked a walk to load the bases. Unfortunately for Grand Canyon, a force out at home plate and a ground out to third ended the threat.

Barnes finished the day as the lone GCU batter with a multi-hit performance.

Grand Canyon will return to Phoenix for a few days of practice before heading right back on to the road. The Lopes will pair up with preseason WCC favorite, Saint Mary's, for a three-game series in Moraga, Calif. beginning on Friday.