Tight title game loss ends season

Sunday, May 26

Mesa, Ariz.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

36-24

Sacramento State

39-23

Sacramento State

Grand Canyon

5/26/2019 4:30:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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GCU rally comes up short to Sac State in WAC championship

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

MESA, Ariz. — Being close just makes the sting worse.

Grand Canyon's season-long tenacity was there until the end Sunday, when the Lopes rallied with the potential tying and winning runners on base in the ninth inning as Sacramento State closed them out for the WAC Baseball Tournament championship and a NCAA regional tournament spot.

GCU's winningest Division I season (36-24) closed harshly with a 5-4 championship game loss to Sacramento State, which beat the Lopes by one run in four consecutive meetings dating back to the end of the regular season. The Hornets (39-23) were the first WAC Tournament participants to lose a Wednesday first-round game and reach the championship round, winning six consecutive games over four days to do it at Hohokam Stadium.

"It's a tough pill to swallow," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "We were in a good spot and we had some opportunities. We didn't take advantage of them yesterday and today. Certainly you're always proud of them. They work hard and they're great young men. They've got great attitudes. They're great team kids. They understand what it's about.

"It's a tough one but you got to hand it to Sac State. What they did to come up through the loser's bracket and win that many consecutive games is pretty impressive obviously. You've got to tip your hat to them."

As they often did in the tournament, the Lopes scored most of their runs late Sunday with a three-run eighth inning that narrowed the Hornets lead to 5-4. The rally began with back-to-back walks from senior pinch-hitter Marc Mumper and freshman shortstop Jonny Weaver before senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester went the opposite way with a single off the left-field wall that scored Mumper. Weaver scored on an error and Winchester scored on a grounder by senior third baseman Tyler Wyatt to reduce the Sacramento State lead to 5-4.

With sophomore first baseman Cuba Bess on second, junior left fielder Kona Quiggle followed a run-saving catch in the top of the eighth with a deep drive that barely fell into foul territory before he struck out.

"They say it's a game of inches and it really is," Stankiewicz said. "It's amazing how it twists and turns. The ball falls and doesn't fall. I love our guys' competitiveness. They did a good job to get to the final game."

In the bottom of the ninth, senior center fielder Preston Pavlica opened with an infield single and moved to second on senior second baseman Austin Bull's sacrifice bunt. With two outs and Weaver on first after walking, the game ended when Winchester grounded out and kept walking into foul territory as the Hornets celebrated on the field. Weaver and teammates consoled Winchester, whose .381 tourney batting average earned All-WAC Tournament honors along with Bull (team-best .429) and junior pitcher Kade Mechals (10 strikeouts in six shutout innings).

"I couldn't be more proud of our guys," said Mumper, one of eight GCU seniors who gave touching postgame locker-room speeches to the underclassmen. "We got down early, came back and put ourselves in a good spot. We had a chance. I'm just proud of our guys. Close. We never gave up all nine innings. Fight until the last out. That's what we branded ourselves on."

As the wind blew hard to left field, Sacramento State took advantage early with three solo home runs in that direction for a 3-0 lead by the third inning. Sophomore third baseman Steven Moretto opened the scoring with a first-inning deep ball off GCU freshman starter Pierson Ohl, who threw seven innings for a tournament-opening win on Thursday.

Junior left fielder Matt Smith, on a four-hit day, hit back-to-back home runs with sophomore designated hitter and tournament MVP Dawsen Bacho in the third inning.

The Lopes closed the gap to 3-1 with the biggest blast of them all – a 433-foot shot by Pavlica to left-center field to start the bottom of the third inning. But from there, GCU did not get a hit until a seventh-inning single by Quiggle that was stranded.

Meanwhile, Sacramento State was building on its lead with a sixth-inning run off three singles and a hit batsman and an eight-inning run off two one-out hits and a sacrifice fly for a 5-1 lead.

With both teams going deep into the tourney, the coaches planned on having heavy bullpen days and GCU kept in rally range with senior Nick Ohanian allowing one earned run in 3 1/3 innings of work, junior Cole Hoskins allowing one earned run in two innings and sophomore Frankie Scalzo pitching a shutout ninth inning. The defense only made three errors in five tournament games.

The Lopes' strong 19-6 close to the season and three-day tourney winning streak to the championship round was little solace after the Lopes dropped their chances to reach a NCAA regional by 4-3 (Saturday in 11 innings) and 5-4 scores.

"It's a tough one to swallow," Mumper said. "The program's got an incredible future. We've got to be proud of ourselves. We went all nine innings and gave it everything we had and left it all out there."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.