Grand Canyon claims fourth straight WAC series

Saturday, April 15

Chicago, Ill.

10:00 a.m.

Grand Canyon

16-19, 10-2

Chicago State

8-24, 4-5

Grand Canyon

Chicago State

4/15/2017 12:49:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Josh Hauser

CHICAGO - Behind an early offensive charge that included 10 hits in the first three innings, Grand Canyon defeated Chicago State 4-3 to claim its fourth consecutive conference series on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars rallied late, but Mick Vorhof closed out the contest and earned his fourth save. For the first time as a member of the Division I ranks, GCU opens the conference schedule with four straight series victories.

"On a day where we couldn't get the big hit to expand the lead, the pitching staff took over," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "The combination of Schneider, Franks and Vorhof was terrific. This win was all about them."

At the top of the Lopes' order, Austin Bull and Tyler Wyatt each recorded three hits on the day to pace the GCU attack. Sophomore Preston Pavlica, in the lineup for the first time since a March 3 injury, logged hits in his first two at bats of the day including a double.

The Lopes played error-free defense for the entirety of the three-game series. It was the first perfect defensive series from a Grand Canyon team since the conference title-clinching series at Sacramento State to end the season in 2015.

"It was a solid weekend effort by us," Stankiewicz said. "I thought our team defense was good all weekend, especially Marc Mumper at shortstop. He was in the zone with the glove. We also ran the bases much more aggressively."

Grand Canyon was on the board just two batters into the game. Bull led off with a single, coming into score on Wyatt's first triple of the season. Wyatt himself would score on an RBI groundout. The Lopes proceeded to load the bases, including a base hit from Pavlica, but the Cougars got out of the frame with just two runs of damage.

GCU was on the board again in the third. Pavlica opened the frame with a double and scored on an RBI single by Quin Cotton.

Through the first three innings, every Grand Canyon batter had either reached base or driven in a run. The Lopes had 10 hits, including three alone from Bull.

The Lopes plated another single run in the fourth inning. After Ian Evans started the inning with a single, he stole third base and scored on a throwing error. GCU's fourth run of the day would be the last of the day, but it proved to be enough for the rubber match victory.

Chicago State scored two of its three runs on solo home runs. Julian Russell hit one in the first with Jacob Northrup following suit in the fifth. The Cougars pulled within a run late with an eighth-inning tally, but Vorhof limited the damage to just one run over his 2.0 innings of work.

Jack Schneider started the contest on the mound for the Lopes and allowed just three hits over 4.1 innings of work. AJ Franks came on in relief and threw 2.2 one-hit, scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher. Vorhof did allow three hits in his 2.0 innings, but he retired the final three batters he faced to end the game.

GCU last opened a conference schedule with four straight series wins in 2013, the Lopes' final year as a member of Division II. In that season, the Lopes won their first six PacWest Conference series.

"No mid-week game this week will allow us to have a couple of good practices," Stankiewciz said. "That will help us prepare for another weekend series."

After finishing up the road trip, the Lopes return to Phoenix where they will play 10 of their next 13 games. Kicking off the stretch of home games, GCU will host UTRGV at Brazell Stadium next weekend.