Lerouge drives in all three runs in conference-opening win

Friday, March 24

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-13, 0

CSU Bakersfield

11-6, 0

CSU Bakersfield

Grand Canyon

Lerouge drives in all three runs in conference-opening win

3/24/2017 10:15:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Josh Hauser

PHOENIX - Tom Lerouge and Austin Bull alone accounted for all three of GCU's runs and all four hits as the Lopes edged CSU Bakersfield 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference opener on Friday night at Brazell Stadium. Grand Canyon won its WAC opener for the third consecutive year.

"The guys showed some resiliency and some fight," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "We've been in some tight games this year, and it was good to show the maturity and stay in this one. It was encouraging to see we're going up a little bit."

Bull reached base all four times on two base hits and two walks, while Lerouge drove Bull in twice.

In the sixth, Bull broke up CSUB starting pitcher Max Carter's no-hit bid with an infield single. Stepping into the batter's box trailing 2-0, Lerouge hammered his first home run of the season to right field to tie up the score.

History repeated itself in the eighth inning with Lerouge coming up big with a run-scoring play. This time, with two outs in the 2-2 game, Lerouge singled up the middle to score Bull -- who tripled -- and push across the game-winning run.

"Tom had two big at bats there obviously," Stankiewicz said. "He came up big with the home run and the base hit back up the middle."

GCU starter Jake Wong and Carter threw up five innings of scoreless baseball. Wong finished the night with 7.0 innings, five hits, two runs and six strikeouts, one shy of a career high. Carter tossed 7.2 innings, allowed three runs on four hits, but did struggle a little bit with his control in surrendering three walks.

"It was a great job by Bakersfield's starter," Stankiewicz said. "That guy knows how to pitch. With Jake Wong, the two were kind of counter-punching back and forth. But our guys stayed on it and eventually broke through."

Behind Wong, the Lopes turned to their go-to back-end guys in AJ Franks and Mick Vorhof. Franks retired three of the five batters he faced via the strikeout, giving way to Vorhof who pitched the final two outs. On a full count with the tying run in scoring position and two outs, Vorhof fired a strike which caught the batter looking and put an end to the game.

"The job AJ Franks did was great, and then Mick Vorhof coming out behind him," Stankiewicz said. "It's not easy to come into a ballgame when you're down 2-0 to the batter."

Despite the season-low in hits with four, GCU won its sixth straight decision versus the Roadrunners. It was the fewest hits in a winning effort for GCU since March 7, 2015, when the Lopes downed Tennessee 1-0, also with four hits, in Knoxville.

GCU took the opener of a three-game series for the first time since topping No. 22 Oklahoma State on opening night, an eventual series win for Grand Canyon. The Lopes will look to parlay Friday's victory into a series win on Saturday. With LHP Jake Repavich (1-2, 4.26) on the hill vs. Roadrunners' right-hander Isaiah Moten (2-1, 3.48), the first pitch is set for 2 p.m. MST.