Starting pitching puts GCU in 1st-place tie

Sunday, May 9

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

30-17-1, 23-5

Dixie State

15-30, 13-15

Dixie State

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Rylan Dressendorfer

5/9/2021 6:15:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Rotation allows 2 earned runs in 4-game home sweep of Dixie State

By: Paul Coro

Good starting pitching puts a team in contention for a conference championship. Great starting pitching can win a title.

Grand Canyon moved into a first-place tie atop the WAC on Sunday with its best weekend of starting pitching this season. The Lopes allowed two earned runs over 25 1/3 innings (0.71 ERA) in a four-game sweep of Dixie State that was punctuated with a 6-3 Sunday win at GCU Ballpark.

The GCU starting pitchers have gone from a 4.50 ERA in the first two conference series to a 1.98 ERA over the past five WAC series, sending the Lopes to a 23-5 conference mark that is a program record for WAC wins. At 30-17-1 overall, GCU also is on pace for its best Division I record.

Most importantly for this team that celebrated 15 senior players on Sunday, the Lopes picked up two games on co-leader California Baptist this weekend to set up an eight-game closing stretch that ends with a GCU-CBU series on May 20-22 in Phoenix.

The Lopes' mound dominance came with a shuffle of the rotation that moved senior Zach Barnes from Friday to Sunday, where he shook off a string of rough first innings to limit Dixie to three hits and one earned run over six innings.

"Moving to Sunday, I get to watch what the other guys do and learn from them throughout the week," Barnes said. "That's what we always do. We're always talking to each other, trying to make each other better pitchers and competing with each other every day."

Barnes' reliance on his two-seam fastball for increased control resulted in seven strikeouts and his best outing since the season's first two series.

"He got a lot of fly ball outs, which is good because that means his ball is sinking," GCU head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "The slider's got some depth to it because they're out in front of it a little bit, so that's a good sign."

Barnes' work followed the style of his predecessors, pounding first-pitch strikes down in the zone. This weekend, junior Pierson Ohl and freshman Carter Young each threw seven shutout innings for the Lopes while senior Dawson McCarville allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings.

"Our four starters bought in," Stankiewicz said. "They want to be a part of it. I think it's more about that mentality. I think that extra days of rest could have been a factor (for Barnes) because he threw the ball really well. I'm proud of the way those four starters responded on the mound."

GCU is riding a 16-3 stretch by playing clutch baseball, closing Saturday's doubleheader with a come-from-behind, 10th-inning rally and scoring five of Sunday's six runs with two outs.

The game-changing at bat came in the third inning after the Lopes fell behind 1-0. Freshman first baseman Elijah Buries kept GCU alive with a first-pitch, two-out RBI single that scored senior shortstop Channy Ortiz, who had singled to lead off the inning.

Lopes designated hitter Tayler Aguilar fouled off a pair of full-count fastballs before he parked the next heater 406 feet away to right-center field.

"He's starting to not swing as big," Stankiewicz said. "He's a big strong guy. That was a two-strike home run. He choked up and widened his stance a little bit. We call it aggressive pepper. Just get the barrel to the ball with a nice short swing and see what happens. That was an encouraging at bat for him."

Aguilar is hitting .380 in conference play, displaying massive offseason improvement from hitting .156 last season.

"I just thought I needed to put the ball in play and play my game," Aguilar said. "I'm seeing that I'm in the lineup on a daily basis and it is settling in that I need to use a daily routine that is doing really well. I give myself goals every year and I'm doing those really well. I want to do a lot more than my old past. If I do well, I'm going to stay calm and collected."

Spotted the lead, Barnes blanked the Trailblazers on one hit over his final three innings before turning it over to senior right-hander Nick Hull, who was untouchable for two perfect innings on 18 pitches. Hull has thrown 12 consecutive shutout innings in his past six appearances, allowing five hits and striking out 13 in that stretch.

GCU stretched the lead to 4-1 on Buries' second RBI single, making him 8 for 17 over the past six games. Ortiz, senior second baseman Dane Stankiewicz, senior center fielder Brock Burton and junior second baseman Juan Colato also had two-hit days, making Burton 16 for 34 (.471) since April 21 and Colato 21 for 49 (.429) since April 18.

Colato provided the cushion with a two-run home run, his seventh of the season, that put GCU ahead 6-1 in the sixth inning.

"We can't let off the gas," Stankiewicz said. "We have to have a great work day on Tuesday and Wednesday before we head to Tarleton. We certainly have some work cut out for us, but I like the mentality and the energy the guys are bringing."

Sunday's pregame ceremony to honor 15 seniors players and senior manager Isaiah Overman was for contributions on and off the field. Because of COVID-19, this GCU roster of 48 players and senior class are unusually large but is typically unified regardless of role.

"From Day 1, they've been committed," Stankiewicz said. "They bring great focus. They're not selfish. They don't pout. They just come ready to work every day. That's a great team mentality. They get it. They want us to have success, even if they're not in there."

GCU plays a four-game series at Tarleton (20-31, 13-19 WAC) before the CBU series at home and the May 26-30 WAC Tournament at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.