STANFORD, Calif. – The Grand Canyon baseball team dropped its first three-game series of the season, losing 6-1 in the rubber match at Stanford on Sunday.
The Lopes (6-5) kicked off the series by committing no errors in an 18-inning win on Friday, but two errors on Saturday and four more on Sunday led to seven unearned runs for Stanford.
In the series finale, six of the Cardinal's eight runs were unearned. Four unearned runs were charged to GCU starting pitcher
Dawson McCarville, who was handed the loss on 5 2/3 innings pitched with six hits and four strikeouts on 90 pitches.
Stanford (3-8) scored a season-high six runs and was led by outfielder Brock Jones, whose two-run single in the first inning put GCU in an early 3-0 hole.
For the second straight game, the Lopes were left searching for timely hits to bring runners home. GCU finished 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and 1 for 14 with runners on base, stranding seven runners. The Lopes had an opportunity with the bases loaded in the eighth but flew out to center field.
Lopes junior third baseman
Juan Colato went 1 for 3 and finished the series with nine hits after going 5 for 5 on Saturday. Junior second baseman
Drew Smith logged his second straight two-hit game, while freshman outfielder
Ty Siffermann picked up his first career hit on a single in the third inning.
GCU will open up a five-game homestand on Tuesday, starting with a two-game midweek series against New Mexico (8-3).