Series evened; win streak snapped at 5

Saturday, March 4

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Texas State

3/4/2023 8:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

All 8 GCU hits come with 2 outs as Lopes strand 11 on base

By: Josh Hauser

Grand Canyon had its five-game win streak snapped in a 3-0 loss to Texas State on Saturday night at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark, setting up a Sunday rubber match for the series.

The Lopes outhit the Bobcats 8-6 but all eight hits came with two outs. GCU left 11 runners on base compared to three for Texas State.

"All of our offense came with two outs and it came in bunches," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "We had a couple guys on base a couple times and hit some balls hard. Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get some guys on earlier and be able to run some offense and execute a little bit better."

GCU (7-3) advanced runners into scoring position in four different innings but couldn't push across a run.

Sophomore right-hander Daniel Avitia posted his longest outing of the season, going seven innings in allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

"He came out and was really good," Wallis said. "He hit a little bit of a lull in the middle innings and then he got really fired up. That's the Danny that we saw all last year. He got fired up and he wanted to protect his teammates. He went out and really was the guy we saw all last year for the last three innings."

Texas State (7-3) scored its three runs in three different innings, coming on an RBI double in the fourth and solo home runs in the seventh and ninth innings.

The Lopes got to Bobcats starter Nathan Medrano for six hits in six innings, but the right-hander scattered the hits effectively.

"He frustrated us and we didn't make an adjustment," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "We did with two strikes and with two outs but it was just a bit too late. We'll learn from that and we'll be a little bit better prepared for that."

Junior center fielder Homer Bush Jr. (three) and junior third baseman Elijah Buries (two) recorded multi-hit games to lead the Lopes offensively.

"We got two good teams going at it, series tied 1-1," Wallis said. "So tomorrow is going to be a great test for us. We get to come back out tomorrow and try to win the series."

The series finale is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday.