GCU caps off dominant sweep of New Mexico State, improves to 16-2 in WAC

Sunday, April 30

Las Cruces, N.M.

11:00 a.m.

Grand Canyon

22-21, 16-2

New Mexico State

26-19, 11-4

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

GCU caps off dominant sweep of New Mexico State, improves to 16-2 in WAC

4/30/2017 2:56:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Josh Hauser

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Lopes capped off a dominant weekend at New Mexico State with their third shutout victory of the season, topping the Aggies 9-0 on Sunday afternoon. Grand Canyon outscored New Mexico State 27-11 over the course of the three-game sweep to improve to 16-2 in conference play.

"This is a tough place to come and play," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "New Mexico State can hit. We knew we'd have to pitch well this weekend to have some success. That's exactly what we did. This was about as complete of a three games that we've played since I've been at GCU. I'm really proud of the effort."

Freshman Jack Schneider kept the New Mexico State hitters off balance all game long. The lefty pitched a career-high 7.0 innings, allowing just four hits and no runs in the best outing of his freshman campaign. He improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 4.28. He finished off his outing with a six-pitch seventh.

AJ Franks finished off the day with two scoreless frames, completing Grand Canyon's third shutout victory of the season.

Over the three-game series, GCU's starting pitching trio of Jake Wong, Jake Repavich and Schneider combined to allow just two earned runs in 21.1 innings (0.84 ERA).

"I know I sound like a broken record, but it always starts on the mound," Stankiewicz said. "The job did that Jack Schneider did here today was terrific. He just made some nice pitches, pitched to contact, and we played some good defense. It was a great performance by him."

In the three games, GCU scored no less than seven runs in a game. The Lopes hit .331 for the series with 14 extra-base hits and a slugging percentage of .525. Grand Canyon held New Mexico State -- who had 39 home runs on the season -- to no homers while hitting four of their own.

"Our guys made some quality pitches, even though New Mexico State was in some hitter's counts," Stankiewicz said. "Our guys were seeing the ball up and elevating it better. You have a chance to backspin a ball and hit it into a gap. A few home runs is a bonus."

While there were good offensive performances up and down the lineup, Ian Evans went 9-for-13 (.692) in the series with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs. He got on base at a .750 clip.

"Hitting can be contagious," Stankiewicz said. "The guys did a good job of getting their pitch and not getting out of the zone. There was a lot of nice little base hits back up the middle. Ian Evans had a great weekend. He's become a mainstay for us in the middle of our lineup."

Grand Canyon didn't wait long to get on the scoreboard, picking up a run in the first inning. After Austin Bull legged out an infield single, Evans grounded a perfectly-executed hit and run through the right side to put runners on the corners. Two walks in the frame, including a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk drawn by Tyler Wyatt, put the Lopes in front 1-0.

The Lopes took full control of the game with a three-run third inning. The first three batters of the inning reached on hits, highlighted by an RBI double for Evans and an RBI single for Garrison Schwartz. Wyatt capped off the inning with a run-scoring groundout to put GCU in front 4-0.

Later tallies for Grand Canyon came in the fourth and sixth frames. Bull doubled to left, Evans picked up another RBI on the weekend to score Bull in the fourth. In the sixth, the Lopes pushed across two more runs on an RBI single from Tom Lerouge and a sacrifice fly from Schwartz.

GCU wasn't done scoring yet. In the eighth inning, Marc Mumper blasted his second home run of the season well over the left field wall to give the Lopes an 8-0 advantage. In the ninth, Preston Pavlica led off with a double and came into score on an RBI single from Josh Meyer.

Bull recorded his sixth three-hit game of the season to go along with a double and three runs scored. Evans also had a three-hit day for the Lopes.

With a sweep in hand, Grand Canyon returns to Brazell Stadium and is off from mid-week action. For the weekend, GCU welcomes Seattle U to Phoenix for a three-game series beginning on Friday night.