Repavich tosses 8.1 innings as Lopes clinch series

Saturday, April 29

Las Cruces, N.M.

1:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

21-21, 15-2

New Mexico State

26-18, 11-3

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

4/29/2017 6:02:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Josh Hauser

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Behind a career-long 8.1 innings from Jake Repavich and a four-RBI performance from Garrison Schwartz, the Grand Canyon baseball team clinched its sixth straight conference series victory with a win over New Mexico State on Saturday afternoon. The Lopes' defense turned four double plays including a game-ending double play to secure the 7-2 victory.

Repavich bested his previous career high of 7.1 innings with 8.1 solid frames on Saturday. The left-hander scattered nine hits and allowed just two runs, only one of which was earned. Repavich seemed to only get better as they game wore on, facing the minimum in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

"That was a big performance by Jake Repavich," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "He commanded his fastball really well and threw a nice little slider and just kept them off balance. He's a smart young man who has a feel for his pitches and makes the big pitches when he has to."

On the other side of the ball, Schwartz matched a career high with four RBIs on the day. He had a key two-out, two-RBI single to put the Lopes on the board in the third, and he hit his fourth home run of the season in the fifth.

"Garrison had a nice day with the bat," Stankiewicz said. "It's good to see him come a little bit."

The Lopes got on the board first with a three-run spot in the third. Tyler Wyatt doubled down the right field line with one out, representing Grand Canyon's first base hit of the game. With two outs in the inning, GCU batters drew back-to-back-to-back walks, the latter coming in the form of a bases-loaded walk drawn by Ian Evans to put the Lopes in front. With the bases still loaded, Schwartz came up with a timely single up the middle, scoring two and giving GCU a 3-0 lead.

Schwartz continued a big day from the plate in the fifth inning. After Evans singled, Schwartz hit a ball through the incoming wind to straightaway center, picking up his third and fourth RBIs of the afternoon. The Lopes held a 5-0 advantage after Schwartz's fifth homer of the season.

GCU's defense came up big, with the infield combo of Austin Bull, Marc Mumper and Evans combining to turn four 4-6-3 double plays over the course of the game. In the case of the fifth, seventh and ninth innings, it was an inning-ending double play. Wyatt also came up big defensively in the sixth inning, making a full-extension diving catch in left field.

"Our infield defense was good and the play that Tyler Wyatt made out in left-center," Stankiewicz recalled. "We turned a couple of double plays and made some nice plays in the infield. I think that's kind of who we are. We have to make good pitches and play good defense. We did a much better job of that today."

New Mexico State showed signs of life in the fifth, using a two-run single to narrow GCU's lead to 5-2. But that was as close as the Aggies would come.

The Lopes tacked on single tallies in the seventh and ninth innings to reach the game's final score of 7-2. Mumper hit his first career triple and scored on an RBI groundout in the seventh, while Preston Pavlica singled to drive in the final run of the game in the top of the ninth.

With the win, GCU improved to 15-2 in Western Athletic Conference play, taking a 2.5 game lead over New Mexico State. Grand Canyon tied a program record with six straight series wins to open up a conference schedule.

"They're good," Stankiewicz said of the Aggies. "They aren't going away either. They're going to keep winning a lot of ballgames. We have to stay on it. Tomorrow is a big day for us, and we need to come out and play some good baseball and see what happens."

First pitch in the series finale is set for 11 a.m. MST on Sunday with Jack Schneider (3-0, 5.40) on the hill opposite of New Mexico State's Jonathan Groff (6-4, 3.06).