Ideal opener slips away

Friday, February 16

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

0-1

TCU

1-0

TCU

Grand Canyon

2/16/2018 10:36:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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Wong pitches great but Lopes lose lead in 9th

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

The first night of Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark was moving along like a Grand Canyon script.

The new stadium was electric Friday night from the buzz of 3,749 fans packing into newly constructed seating for a classic field. The Lopes ace, junior Jake Wong, was buzzing through a national power's lineup like a chainsaw. GCU was three outs from opening its season with a win against No. 7 TCU went home with a lesson instead.

The Horned Frogs, qualifiers for the past four College World Series, rallied for three ninth-inning runs to spoil GCU's stadium opener with a 3-2 win to open the three-game series.

The loss did not take away from Wong's brilliance, nearly replicating how he opened last season by keeping No. 22 Oklahoma State to one hit over six innings. This time, he struck out a career-high nine batters while limiting TCU to two hits over six innings with a fastball reaching 94 mph and batter-buckling changeups and sliders.

The performance was not lost on more than 80 pro scouts and executives, who were lined behind home plate with radar guns, lineups and laptops to see Wong and TCU standouts like his pitching nemesis.

"I didn't really pay much attention to that," Wong said. "I got out there and took it all in for a second and then it was go time. I put those distractions out of the way and tried my best to focus on the task at hand."

The game opened with GCU junior second baseman Pikai Winchester bare-handing a ball that came out of his glove on a hot line-drive. Wong took it from there, retiring the first seven Horned Frogs and striking out six of the first 12 batters he faced.

"He's aggressive with his fastball," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "He moves it and likes to throw in. His breaking ball was working well. He just did a really good job of keeping them off-balance. Jake had a great performance and they spoiled it. That's baseball. There are moments where we're going to do that to somebody."

Wong pitched into the seventh inning but he walked the first two batters and hit 89 pitches, a high count for a season opener. As he left the field, Wong took his first peek at the crowd giving him an ovation.

"That was one of the few times I got a chance to step off and be thankful for the opportunity and for the great fan base and the energy," Wong said. "The atmosphere was the best I've ever seen."

Junior reliever Josh Andrews escaped that no-out, two-on jam to preserve a 1-0 Lopes lead.

GCU had scored in the first inning when junior centerfielder Preston Pavlica walked, moved to third on Winchester's single and scored on senior first baseman Ian Evans' grounder.

Eventually, TCU ace and second-team All-American Jared Janczak found his rhythm and set down 11 consecutive batters before an error broke the string. That error and junior third baseman Zach Malis' single set up GCU's second run, which scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning.

The Lopes struck out 13 times and were held to four hits. TCU also only had four hits but one of them tied the game in the ninth inning, when junior leftfielder Josh Watson hit a two-run, one-out triple down the right-field line. He scored on a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run on the next at-bat.

GCU did not put a runner on base against TCU's bullpen in 2 1/3 innings.

"It's a sour taste," Stankiewicz said. "Wong pitched so well. I told the guys that it's a tough lesson to learn. You have to play nine innings. Against a team like that, you let up the gas and you're going to find yourself in a tough spot."

The crowd had the spunk of the Havocs students stacked on the TCU dugout's side and the pizazz of ceremonial first-pitch thrower and Lopes legend Tim Salmon, along with fellow major-league stars Luis Gonzalez, Archie Bradley and Andre Ethier.

GCU Vice President of Athletics Mike Vaught said he felt the most excitement for GCU seniors who committed to the program when GCU Ballpark was only a vision and Division I postseason play was not a possibility until this season.

"For our fans and students, it's a top-25 facility," Vaught said. "It's a place where you can bring your family and enjoy baseball in a beautiful setting."

GCU increased in-game entertainment, improving lighting and sound, added concession space and restrooms. The players' dugout space doubled and they have four new lit batting cages but the best new addition to them was the crowd.

"It's a true blessing that we get to play in a stadium like this," senior pitcher Jake Repavich said. "It's awesome to come out here and play in such a beautiful stadium. We've been anxious to go and break it in and see how it feels. It'll be a different atmosphere."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.