Mechals' gutty work turns WAC win

Thursday, May 23

Mesa, Ariz.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

35-22

UT Rio Grande Valley

34-20

Grand Canyon

UTRGV

Photo by: Darryl Webb

5/23/2019 7:33:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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Lopes remain undefeated at WAC Tournament by blanking UTRGV

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

MESA, Ariz. – A turning point often comes upon leaving a comfort zone.

Grand Canyon junior pitcher Kade Mechals went from a groove to grit Thursday, when he struck out 10 batters in the first five innings and then staved off his stiffest challenge of the season.

In a 1-0 pitchers' duel at the WAC Tournament, UT Rio Grande Valley loaded the bases with one out in the sixth inning as the GCU ace surpassed the 100-pitch count. Mechals' magic made the threat go poof with a pop-out and a ground out on his season-high 117th pitch, a momentum shifter that sparked a four-run Lopes inning in a 5-0 victory at Hohokam Stadium.

GCU (35-22) is one of two undefeated teams remaining in the double-elimination tourney. The Lopes will play top-seeded New Mexico State (38-15) in a 7 p.m. game at Hohokam with pitching that has allowed one earned run in two WAC Tournament games.

"I do believe baseball is a momentum game," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "That was a huge jam and he (Mechals) got us out of it and everybody got excited in the dugout. We said, 'OK, let's put some better at bats together. Let's settle down a little bit and get some good pitches.' The offense responded well."

GCU followed a 16-hit Wednesday with 11 more on Thursday, although it was a grind initially with three infield singles among its first four hits before the four-run seventh inning. The Lopes led 1-0 after senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt singled and stole second to set up an RBI single by senior second baseman Austin Bull, who is 5 for 9 in the tourney.

Mechals grasped that lead tightly, although a four-pitch walk made for an inauspicious start. Mechals was slipping on the mound. He slid his starting point to the right and kept sending UTRGV players right to the dugout with a three-pitch mix. He also handled putting Vaqueros on second and third base with one out in the second inning by striking out the next two batters.

"He's been doing it all year," Stankiewicz said. "He really has and it's amazing. He's just got a good feel for pitches. He can mix them up and he's real confident whether it's a fastball, change-up or a breaking ball."

In the sixth inning, an error, walk, sacrifice bunt and intentional walk prompted the bases-loaded, one-out situation that Mechals escaped.

"At that point, the adrenaline was just taking over," said Mechals, who has the most wins by a Lopes pitcher since 1991 with an 11-1 record and 2.16 ERA. "I didn't feel anything. It felt great."

That led to the seventh-inning breakout, when GCU got to UTRGV ace Trevelle Hill as he surpassed 100 pitches. Bull singled and scored for a 2-0 lead on senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester's double to left-center field.

Winchester missed 13 games for an oblique injury before returning to action Wednesday for the tournament, where he has gone 5 for 8.

"My first pitch yesterday looked like it was 102 (miles per hour)," Winchester said. "After that, I tried to just slow the game down and make it look like 87. I was kind of tentative in the beginning but once I took a couple swings, it all went away."

Even with two outs in the seventh, the Lopes extended the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single by freshman shortstop Jonny Weaver, his third hit of the game. Stankiewicz used a coach's challenge when Weaver was called out stealing. The overrule kept the inning alive and senior center fielder Preston Pavlica chased Hill with an RBI single for a 4-0 lead before junior right fielder Quin Cotton welcomed his relief with an RBI double for a 5-0 lead.

GCU junior reliever Cole Hoskins closed out the team's sixth shutout win (tied for eighth in the nation) with a three-inning save, helping the Lopes continue to push the program's Division I record for wins in a season higher.

"This is exactly what we live for, exactly where we want to be," said Mechals, who became the first GCU pitcher to strike out 100 batters in a season since 2004. "It doesn't matter what seed we are. We can hang with anybody."

GCU's season shifted when it last saw UTRGV in mid-April. The Vaqueros gave the Lopes three excruciating home losses (one by a run and two in extra innings). Since then, GCU has gone 18-4.

If the Lopes win two more games consecutively, they will be the WAC Tournament champions with an automatic NCAA tournament berth. With any loss, GCU would remain alive in the double-elimination format.

"There's no pressure any more," Winchester said. "We're just playing with a bunch of, we call it, 'dawgs.' "

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.