PHOENIX - The Grand Canyon baseball team completed a three-game series sweep over CSU Bakersfield with an 8-3 win on Sunday afternoon at Brazell Stadium. Josh Meyer and Tyler Wyatt led the way for GCU's offense with three hits each on the afternoon, while freshman left-hander Jack Schneider picked up his first collegiate victory.
After entering the week not having made a collegiate start, Schneider finished off his second solid outing of the week on the mound on Sunday afternoon. The freshman tossed 5.0 innings, allowing just three hits while striking out four. He allowed a two-run first to the visitors, but threw the final four innings of his outing scoreless.
Â
Schneider picked up his
first collegiate win.
"Jack did a nice job," head coach Andy Stankiewicz commented. "Sometimes in those situations there's nerves, but you just have to trust your defense. He got out of the first inning and started throwing his breaking ball for a strike. He did a nice job after that first inning."
Meyer earned his second start behind the plate on Sunday after a successful day on Saturday. He capitalized on the opportunity, logging his first three-hit game since May 18, 2014 against Utah Valley.
"Josh brings energy to our ball club," Stankiewicz said. "He's been here now for four years so he knows what we're trying to do. He, of course, wants to win and is a very competitive young man. He's been around for awhile, works with these pitchers every day and understands their pitches and how to manage a game."
In total, five GCU batters had multi-hit days including a three-hit game from Wyatt and two-hit efforts from Austin Bull, Tom Lerouge and Garrison Schwartz. For Wyatt, it was his second three-hit game in as many days.
After allowing CSUB to score two runs on a two-out rally, Grand Canyon quickly erased the Roadrunners' lead with a three-run bottom of the first. Lerouge and Ian Evans each singled and came into score on a double by Wyatt. Wyatt himself displayed some heads-up baserunning to score from second base on an infield single from Schwartz.
The Lopes posted another three-run inning in the bottom of the fourth to break the game open. A Bull single drove in Meyer, who had singled earlier in the frame. Two more runs came in to score when Lerouge hammered a ball to left-center field, just past the diving attempt of the CSUB left fielder for a two-RBI double.
Grand Canyon tacked on single runs in the fifth and the seventh. With his second hit of an eventual three-hit afternoon, Meyer drove in the Lopes' seventh run. In the seventh, Bakersfield's four-error day came back to haunt them, with Cuba Bess reaching on an error. He would come around to score GCU's eighth run on a sacrifice fly by Schwartz.
Bakersfield's hot-hitting duo of Ryan Grotjohn and Andrew Penner were held in check for the duration of the series. The two both managed to hit over .300 for the series, but not to the same standards of their gaudy numbers coming in. Grotjohn's batting average went from .475 to .452 on the weekend, while Penner's dropped from .457 to .439.
"With both of them we try to stay away," Stankiewicz said. "Grotjohn does a heck of a job at shortstop. He made a ton of great plays. He's a nice player. With CSU Bakersfield, they can certainly swing it. You have to make good pitches and establish your fastball and try to keep them off balance."
The Lopes have now claimed eight straight games from the Roadrunners, sweeping them each of the past two season. GCU notched its first conference series sweep since taking three from North Dakota on the road last year. With Northern Colorado and Utah Valley, GCU is one of three teams to emerge from the first weekend of WAC play 3-0.
Next up for Grand Canyon is a trip south to play No. 9 Arizona. The Wednesday matchup from Tucson is set for 6 p.m. Following the mid-week game, the Lopes return back to Brazell Stadium for another WAC series, this time with Northern Colorado.
Â
