GCU falls in extras to Xavier

Wednesday, March 13

Phoenix, Ariz.

6:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

6-10

Xavier

6-8

Xavier

Grand Canyon

3/13/2019 10:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Late-inning errors prove costly for Lopes

By: Mark Oshidari

The Grand Canyon baseball team lost in extra innings to Xavier 7-3 on Wednesday night at GCU Ballpark.

Sophomore pitcher Jack Schneider had a successful return to the diamond for the Lopes after missing all of 2018 due to injury. The left-hander threw three scoreless innings and allowed just one hit while striking out three. He retired the final eight batters he faced. Of Schneider's 39 pitches, 26 were strikes.

The Lopes were sailing through the first eight innings, leading 3-0 with the first four pitchers hanging shutout frames on the Musketeers.

Xavier took advantage of GCU errors in the ninth and 10th innings to secure the victory in the first of four games between the two squads. Of the seven runs scored by the Musketeers, six were unearned due to GCU's miscues.

Junior right fielder Quinn Cotton connected on his second home run of the season to start the scoring for GCU, giving the Lopes the early lead.

GCU pitchers Nick Hull, Coen Wynne and Cole Hoskins combined to toss five shutout innings in relief.

Senior pitcher Nick Ohanian (1-1) took the loss for the Lopes, while Trey Schramm (1-1) earned the win out of the bullpen for the Musketeers.

Senior second baseman Austin Bull led the GCU offense, going 3 for 4 with a pair of RBIs. Cotton also added a multi-hit game, going 2 for 5, including his third-inning opposite field home run into the visiting bullpen.

Xavier scored all seven runs in the final two frames to improve to 6-8 while the Lopes dropped to 6-10.

GCU is back in action on Thursday for the second game of the four-game set against Xavier with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.