Chances to rally slip away in opener

Friday, April 9

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-14-1, 9-4

Northern Colorado

7-17, 3-10

Northern Colorado

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Rylan Dressendorfer

4/9/2021 9:27:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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Barnes, Slominski keep Northern Colorado hitless for final 6 innings

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon threw six innings of no-hit ball Friday night, but it came too late and with too little offense to make a difference.

The Lopes lost 4-2 to Northern Colorado in the opener of a four-game WAC series, wasting that late-game pitching and a chance to tighten the top of the conference standings.

GCU remains in third place and 2 1/2 games out of first place in the WAC. Friday's saving grace was how it preserved the pitching staff because Lopes senior starter Zach Barnes gutted through a rough start to provide six innings and sophomore reliever Jack Smolinski posted a third consecutive appearance of three shutout innings.

"We've got to be better than that offensively," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said after a seven-hit game. "The great thing is we get to play two (on Saturday). Backs to the wall. We've always responded really well in this situation, so I don't feel any different. We'll come with some edge and excitement about playing the game."

That edge was not sharp to start Friday's game, when a leadoff walk and two errors led to a two-run Northern Colorado first inning.

Barnes searched for his command through the first three innings. But after a three-hit, three-walk third inning put GCU (14-14-1, 9-4 WAC) in a 4-0 hole, Barnes bounced back with three perfect innings to extend his outing to six innings for the sixth time in eight starts this season.

"It was a great job by him to right the ship to keep it at that and give us a chance late, but our ABs obviously weren't very good," Stankiewicz said. "We were coming out of the zone a lot and chasing too aggressively on fastballs up in the zone."

GCU flied out twice after putting runners on first and second base in the first inning, highlighted by freshman first baseman Elijah Buries' double to right-center field on an 0-2 pitch.

Another Lopes double, by senior shortstop Channy Ortiz, opened the bottom of the third inning to help GCU push across its first run after an infield single by senior center fielder Brock Burton and a RBI single by junior second baseman Juan Colato.

That extended Burton's hitting streak to eight games and freshman Tyler Wilson hit for a ninth consecutive game with a 2-for-4 Friday. After Wilson was stranded with a leadoff single in the fourth, he laced a two-out RBI single that scored Colato in the sixth and shrunk the Northern Colorado to 4-2.

"They took a two in the first and another two in the third, but there was a lot of ballgame left," Stankiewicz said.

Slominski gave GCU every chance to rally. He has earned his chance, going through a shoulder injury that limited him to one freshman outing last season and not appearing in a game this season until March 23.

On Friday night, the Scottsdale Saguaro High graduate struck out four batters in three innings and retired the last seven batters he faced. In his past three outings, Slominski has allowed two hits in nine shutout innings with an improved curveball.

"I just kept telling myself, 'When you get the opportunity, don't let it slip and take advantage of it,' " Slominski said. "It's put me now into bigger roles, but I just try to do the same thing. Every time out there, I keep it as the one opportunity I have."

While he was not in the mix, the right-hander used simulation games to stay sharp and change his curve's grip. The product is a 0.82 ERA.

"I came to work every day with the same heartbeat, as Coach Stankiewicz always says, getting my stuff done and going home and being a professional," Slominski said.

Two weeks ago, the Lopes lost the opening game at Tulane and won the series. They will look to do the same with Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday finale. Junior right-hander Pierson Ohl, coming off a complete-game, three-hit win at Utah Valley, and senior right-hander Dawson McCarville, coming off seven shutout relief innings, will start the games in Saturday's 2 p.m. doubleheader at GCU Ballpark.