GCU turns four inning-ending double plays, clinches series

Saturday, March 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

2:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

8-13, 0

CSU Bakersfield

11-7, 0

CSU Bakersfield

Grand Canyon

GCU turns four inning-ending double plays, clinches series

3/25/2017 6:11:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Josh Hauser

PHOENIX - The Grand Canyon baseball team used four inning-ending double plays, including three in the last three innings, to defeat CSU Bakersfield 7-4 on Saturday afternoon at Brazell Stadium. With the victory, the Lopes improve to 2-0 in WAC play and clinch the conference-opening series, setting up the opportunity for the series sweep on Sunday.

"I was encouraged by our double plays and being able to get ground balls to turn those double plays," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "It comes down to keeping the ball down in the zone from a pitching standpoint and taking advantage of it. That's what kept us out of any serious jams. That was encouraging."

For the second straight game, Grand Canyon didn't hit the cover off the ball but took advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. GCU finished with seven runs on eight hits, while CSU Bakersfield had four runs on 11 hits.

"Twice we had two-out RBIs. Bull had one and Evans had one," Stankiewicz said. "Two-out RBIs are hard to come by. That certainly helped and gave us that cushion. That's exactly what we needed. We put some good at bats together when we had to. We were able to regain our momentum when they scored some runs in the middle innings."

The Lopes put the first three runs of the game on the board in the home-half of the second inning. Tyler Wyatt led off the frame with a double to the left field corner. Garrison Schwartz drew a walk, setting the stage for catcher Josh Meyer. The redshirt junior doubled to right field, scoring Wyatt and Schwartz, and picking up his third and fourth RBIs of the season in the process. Marc Mumper pushed the GCU lead to 3-0, grounding out and scoring Meyer from third base.

GCU continued the scoring two innings later. Meyer was hit by a pitch and scored on a two-out RBI single by Austin Bull.

With a 4-0 lead in hand, the Lopes added two more runs in the fifth inning. Ian Evans and Wyatt reached on a single and walk, respectively. Evans came into score, sliding by the tag on an infield ground ball off the bat of Schwartz. One batter later, Wyatt scored from third on an infield ground ball by Cuba Bess. The Lopes exited the fifth inning with a 6-0 lead.

GCU finished off its scoring with a single run in the sixth. Tom Lerouge and Evans strung together back-to-back base hits, with Evans' coming in the form of a double deep to right-center field.

Wyatt finished Saturday's contest with a game-high three hits, bumping his average up to .262 on the season. The sophomore also drew a walk and scored two runs.

"Tyler Wyatt is starting to come around a little bit. He's feeling good about himself, and you can tell," Stankiewicz said. "He's seeing the ball well, and he's been able to put some good swings on some pitches to find some success. He's a rhythm guy, and he's finding himself in a nice little rhythm right now."

Jake Repavich (2-2, 4.14) -- while not possessing his normal sharp command -- gutted out 5.1 solid innings. He scattered seven hits and allowed just two runs to come across. He was the winning pitcher and evened his record at 2-2 on the year.

"Jake did a nice job of getting some ground balls," Stankiewicz said. "He scrapped his way through. I wouldn't call it his typical Jake Repavich stuff, but it doesn't matter. He did exactly what he had to."

The Roadrunners put their first runs of the game on the board in the sixth inning. With a pair of runners in scoring position, a single off the bat of nine-hole hitting Junior Felix scored two. CSU Bakersfield threatened in the ninth inning and did score two runs, but GCU's season-high fourth double play of the game ended the Roadrunners' threat.

With the potential for a series sweep at hand, GCU will turn to freshman lefty Jack Schneider (0-0, 3.18), just five days removed from his first career start at New Mexico on Tuesday. Schneider will face CSUB righty Mahlik Jones (1-2, 4.34). First pitch is set for noon from Brazell Stadium.

NOTES: Grand Canyon's mark of four double plays turned was a season-high and was last set at Kansas on April 26, 2015... Tyler Wyatt posted his first three-hit game of the season and third of his career... with two walks and a single to open Saturday's contest, Austin Bull reached base in his first seven plate appearances of the series... Ian Evans snapped out of a three-game hitless streak with two knocks including an RBI double, pushing his batting average back above .300 at .316... Josh Andrews added to his scoreless inning streak to open the season, pitching one more scoreless frame to bring his total to 7.2 innings on the year, tying for second-most innings pitched without a run in the WAC this season.