Young's best start not enough to top Arizona

Tuesday, March 29

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

16-10

Arizona

18-7

Arizona

Grand Canyon

3/29/2022 10:15:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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No. 15 Wildcats go hitless for 5 innings, take 5-3 win in rematch

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon held college baseball's No. 25 hitting team without a hit for the first five innings Tuesday night.

The Lopes opened with hits on their first two at bats and led for the first five innings in front of 5,015 fans, the second-largest crowd in GCU baseball history.

But with two hits on their last 31 at bats and three runs yielded by the bullpen, the Lopes evened their season series with No. 15 Arizona by taking a 5-3 loss at GCU Ballpark.

Lopes right-handed pitcher Carter Young, a sophomore from Wyoming, delivered his best start of the season by building on previous performances against GCU's challenging mid-week schedule. After his past two starts came in Lopes wins at Oregon State and Arizona State, Young held an Arizona team that was hitting .308 without a hit for 5 1/3 innings.

Arizona sophomores Mac Bingham and Daniel Susac belted solo home runs to take away the no-hitter and the lead in the sixth inning. No GCU pitcher has thrown a no-hitter since Keith Baker in 1982.

"I tried to stay locked in, one pitch at a time," Young said. "But as soon as I started falling behind in that sixth inning, it did cross my mind, I won't lie. I tried to stay within myself and I got too overexcited."

Young struck out seven batters, as GCU pitchers totaled 13 strikeouts to give the staff nine double-digit strikeout games this season. Two of the Lopes' three top strikeout games of the season have come against Arizona (18-7), whose side was fanned by Young in the fifth inning Tuesday.

"I knew coming in that it was just going to be a dogfight," Young said. "They're one of the best hitting teams in the country, so I knew I had to execute my pitches and I felt like I did a really good job of that. Probably the best I've done all year.

"I had a talk with (pitching coach Jon) Wente after that (Arizona State) game about competing and challenging hitters more, trying to stay within myself and not play their game. I really focused on that tonight and that was the difference."

Juan Colato

GCU (16-10) had won seven of its past eight games to enter Tuesday night at No. 21 in NCAA Ratings Percentage Index, making the Lopes-Wildcats matchup one of two that paired RPI top-25 teams on Tuesday.

That made for a great GCU Ballpark turnout, one that only was previously bested with a program-record of 5,261 fans on this season's Opening Night.

The Lopes had won three of the previous five meetings with the Wildcats and hopped to a 1-0 lead Tuesday night with sophomore center fielder Homer Bush Jr. beating out an infield grounder and sophomore first baseman Elijah Buries singling to right field to start the game.

But once a booted ball at shortstop turned into a lucky carom to second base for a force out, the Lopes' offensive fortunes shifted. GCU only managed a 1-0 lead out of the first-inning opportunity on a RBI ground out by senior third baseman Juan Colato.

The Lopes did not get another hit until the fourth inning, when Colato hit a leadoff single and stole second but was stranded by the pop-ups that plagued GCU throughout the game.

"Long swings aren't going to work," Lopes head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "We have to be short to the ball. We weren't particularly short to the baseball tonight and it cost us.

"Lazy pop-ups to the infield, lazy fly balls to the outfield. Those don't work. We're not that type of team that can just sit back and wait for a three-run homer. We've never been that team and don't really have that personnel. We have to commit to hard contact, line-drive and on the ground and we'll take our chance from there."

GCU fell behind 5-1 with Arizona following the sixth-inning home runs with one run on two hits and a walk in the seventh inning and two runs on three hits and a walk in the eighth inning.

The Lopes pushed back with the Bush-Buries combination again. Bush drew a walk and Buries singled to center with one out before both scored when Colato's deep drive to center field was dropped. GCU stranded two men on base to end that inning and followed sophomore center fielder Cade Verdusco's ninth-inning leadoff walk with three consecutive strikeouts.

Luis Gonzalez

GCU did not make an error for the fourth consecutive game, matching last season's longest error-free streak. But the Lopes hit .121 and allowed three runs in three relief innings.

"We didn't execute well like we have in the past," Stankiewicz said. "That's a great ball club over there and a great crowd. I'm disappointed. I thought we would hopefully give a better performance."

GCU continues the homestand and protects its WAC West Division lead with a Friday-through-Sunday series against New Mexico State. No. 7 Texas Tech visits GCU Ballpark next Tuesday and Wednesday for another high-profile nonconference visit.

"Stank does a great job of putting us up against tough opponents," Young said. "It makes us have to work harder and execute even more. Hopefully down the stretch, it will help us in the tourney and further."