Familiar position gives Lopes belief

Wednesday, March 21

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-13

Kansas

13-8

Kansas

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Cohen

3/21/2018 6:41:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

Box Score

GCU ends pre-conference play with 6-5 loss to KU

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

A year ago, Grand Canyon split a two-game non-conference series and was 6-13 entering conference play.

This week, the Lopes again split a two-game non-conference series and are 7-13 entering conference play.

That 2017 team went 20-4 in Western Athletic Conference play to win the regular-season championship. This 2018 team starts a quest to repeat the feat this weekend and could do more damage now that it can compete in the WAC and NCAA Division I postseasons.

The Lopes had a chance to record its second consecutive home sweep of a Power Five program Wednesday but lost 6-5 to Kansas in front of 924 fans at GCU Ballpark.

GCU led for six innings and had potential tying and winning runs on base in the ninth inning but fell to the Jayhawks (12-9) in its final game before opening WAC play with a home weekend series against Chicago State.

"It's a similar kind of look," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said of the past two non-conference seasons. "We didn't get off to a great start last year and we were able to right the ship after that. Hopefully, that trend will continue in the '18 season."

With GCU baseball founder Dr. Dave Brazell attending his first game at the new stadium around Brazell Field, the Lopes used the first two of six Kansas errors to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. They extended the lead to 4-1 in the third inning on junior catcher Griffin Barnes' two-out, two-run single down the right-field line on a 3-2 pitch.

Setting up the weekend rotation that starts with ace Jake Wong on Friday, the Lopes used five freshman pitchers on Wednesday. Starter Nick Hull allowed one run over four innings and Coen Wynne kept GCU within one run by shutting out Kansas over the final two innings.

"He (Wynne) has some attitude out there and some aggressiveness," Stankiewicz said. "He doesn't seem like he's really fearful. He kind of says, 'Here's what I got. I'm throwing it. If you hit me, you hit me.' "

Wynne established his fastball and used a late-breaking curve to strike out three batters (two looking) and yield only one hit. He has gone from giving up six earned runs in his first three appearances to allowing two earned runs over his past six appearances.

"I feel like I'm getting better every outing I get," said Wynne, a 6-foot-3 right-hander from Australia. "I'm getting more comfortable every time I'm out there. It's good to have a good outing and feel like that. It's really reassuring to come from so far away to come here and live up to expectations and just fight for the team."

Some of the team's most stable hitting has come from the middle of the order, where sophomore right-fielder Quin Cotton was on a 10-for-19 stretch until going hitless Wednesday. Junior designated hitter Pikai Winchester had the Lopes' only multi-hit game Wednesday with two singles. He set up one score and nearly sparked a fifth-inning rally when the Lopes loaded the bases with no outs before a bad-luck line drive resulted in a double play.

"We're all sticking to the process and getting better," Winchester said. "Today didn't really look like it but we'll find it. We'll just keep working hard during practice."

The Lopes also missed on a defensive double play that could have prevented Kansas' two-run fifth inning and made other defensive miscues that are not reflected in the error column. GCU did get a gem from center fielder Preston Pavlica, who made a diving catch with the bases loaded to end the top of the seventh inning.

"I don't think it was a real clean game by us," Stankiewicz said. "We had some opportunities to expand the lead and we just chose to really give it back to them. We didn't play great defense on the field and that bothers me.

"I think guys kind of assumed they were going to give it to us and they tried to. They made six errors but we didn't want it. We decided, 'Hey, you guys take it.' That's part of the mentality as a team."

Wednesday's loss marked the fifth time GCU has dropped a game by a run amid this season's ambitious non-conference schedule. The Lopes show they are close to a turnaround, like when last season's team won every conference series.

"We've had our trials," Wynne said. "But at the end of the day, we know what we can do. We're confident. We're a good side (team). We just have to make it click. When it clicks, we're going to be good. We're going to get after it. We're going to make a good run."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.