Lopes drop two to No. 15 Arkansas

Wednesday, April 5

Fayetteville, Ark.

12:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-15

Arkansas

23-6

Grand Canyon

Arkansas

4/5/2017 7:04:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Josh Hauser

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Grand Canyon dropped two games to No. 15 Arkansas on Wednesday afternoon after stormy conditions forced the teams to play a de facto doubleheader. GCU pitchers issued eight walks in an 11-2 defeat in the opener, a resumption of Tuesday's suspended contest. In the nightcap, the Lopes out-hit the Razorbacks 10-9 but fell in a 6-1 loss.

Game 1

Control issues plagued the Lopes' pitchers throughout the first four innings of the opener. Arkansas took advantage of seven walks in the first four innings alone, loading the bases three times. A pair of homers in a three-run third gave the Razorbacks a comfortable 6-0 lead.

"It always starts and ends with pitching," head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "It always has and it always will. We put ourselves behind the eight-ball really quick."

In the fifth inning, Grand Canyon broke up a no-hitter and shutout all in a span of three batters. Garrison Schwartz doubled down the left field line, later coming in to score on a single up the middle by Marc Mumper.

The Lopes narrowed the gap even further in the sixth inning. Ian Evans, Tyler Wyatt and Kona Quiggle strung together three consecutive singles, with the latter scoring a run. With just one away and runners on the corners, GCU had pulled within four runs at 6-2. The inning abruptly ended, however, with a strikeout and a runner retired on the basepaths.

The Razorbacks used a four-run seventh and a one-run eighth to put the game out of reach late.

"That's a really good team," Stankiewicz said. "They're in the top 20 in the country for a reason. Obviously you wish you would come in and play a little better, but going away you know what you have to improve on to compete against a top-20 program. You chalk it up as a learning experience and get back to work."

Grand Canyon used five pitchers to get through the contest on what was a designated bullpen day. The eight walks issued matched a season-high set on opening weekend vs. No. 22 Oklahoma State.

Bobby Milacki represented the Lopes' most effective pitching on the afternoon, tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball with four strikeouts.

Game 2

The Lopes matched Arkansas' hit for hit in the second game of the day, but fell to the Razorbacks 6-1. Grand Canyon was left searching for more productive outs, ending the evening with 18 strikeouts and 10 runners left on base.

"Too many strikeouts," Stankiewicz said. "When we get two strikes on us, we have to learn to not swing harder but swing easier. Just put the ball in play and take our chances."

Control issues on the mound were much less of an issue in the second game with GCU walking just one batter. Lefty starter Tyler Hansen -- in his second career start -- gutted out 3.2 innings, limiting Arkansas to two earned runs while striking out three.

"I thought young Tyler Hansen did a nice job again," Stankiewicz said. "He threw strikes and kept us in it. As his pitch count builds up, hopefully we'll be able to leave him out there a little bit longer. He stands out there, throws his chest out, and he's not afraid to go out there and get after hitters."

Despite not scoring until the sixth inning, GCU had its share of opportunities in the first half of the game. The Lopes opened the third and fifth innings with two runners reaching base but failed to score on both occasions. Grand Canyon left two runners on base in each inning ranging from the third through the sixth.

Schwartz came through in the sixth inning with a solo home run, his third long ball of the season. The junior found the deepest part of the ballpark, just to the right of the batter's eye in straightaway center field.

Out of the bullpen, Mick Vorhof proved to be most effective with 2.0 hitless innings of relief. The righty struck out three of the seven batters he faced.

Offensively, Austin Bull, Quin Cotton and Jared McDonald each had two hits for a Lopes' attack that posted its 15th double-digit hitting performance of the season.

Conference play resumes for Grand Canyon with a trip to Sacramento State. GCU looks to defend its 6-0 conference mark on the road for the first time in WAC play.

"For us, every conference game is huge," Stankiewicz said. "Hopefully guys can learn from this series, flush it, and get back on the road and have a good weekend."

Friday and Saturday's ballgames will feature 6 p.m. MST start times in the second season of lights at Sacramento State's John Smith Field. Sunday's finale will be played at 12 p.m. MST.