Texas Tech power returns; Webb shines in loss

Wednesday, April 19

Lubbock, Texas

10 a.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

20-17

Texas Tech

27-12

Grand Canyon

Texas Tech

4/19/2023 2:45:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes held to season-low 3 hits, but error-less defense, new pen option build for WAC race

By: Paul Coro

LUBBOCK, Texas – Grand Canyon baseball schedules series like the Tuesday-Wednesday trip to No. 16 Texas Tech to take the test required to hit another level.

After two straight NCAA tournament trips, GCU wants to advance to being a team that wins an NCAA regional, as the Red Raiders have done five times since 2014 with the type of offense they showed against the Lopes.

Texas Tech (27-12), the eighth-best hitting team in the nation, hit three home runs for the second consecutive day and beat GCU 11-6 on Wednesday in front of 3,309 fans at Rip Griffin Park.

"The loss stings, but the bright spots were for what we're trying to accomplish down the road for conference play," Lopes head coach Gregg Wallis said. "I saw a lot more intent with a lot of guys on the pitching staff. A few guys took a big step forward on the mound. We felt like the defense as a whole took a step forward. After Friday night at Abilene, that was the challenge – to pitch better and play better defense."

But with pitch counts limiting starters Carter Young and Carson Ohl to keep them available for weekend work, the Lopes (20-17) used eight bullpen innings again and found another gem with junior left-hander Bryan Webb's best day.

GCU drops a midweek contest at No. 16 Texas Tech.

The Tempe (Arizona) Corona del Sol graduate threw 2 1/3 innings of one-hit shutout relief after not pitching last season and only throwing 1 1/3 innings as a freshman.

"He was sinking that ball," Wallis said of Webb. "He's got a different look. He was going against a really good hitting team, and they took some bad swings against him. He was making them uncomfortable. He did a great job."

After starting in a 4-0, first-inning hole in Tuesday's loss, the Lopes trailed 3-0 on Wednesday after the Red Raiders delivered RBI hits on consecutive Ohl pitches.

Texas Tech took the lead to 5-0 before GCU scored without a hit in the third inning on an error, walk and RBI sacrifice fly by sophomore left fielder Maxwell Andeel.

Webb entered after the Red Raiders' lead grew to 6-1 to give a chance to his offense, which picked up its first hit in the sixth inning on a full-count single by freshman third baseman Emilio Barreras. It was part of a three-run rally that put the Lopes back in the game with no other hits. They used a hit batsman and a walk to load the bases before scoring on junior shortstop Jacob Wilson's RBI ground out, freshman designated hitter Zach Yorke's RBI sacrifice fly and an error.

But Texas Tech's Gavin Kash bashed a solo shot to make it 9-4 and added another in the eighth, putting the sophomore transfer from Texas in a tie for second nationally with 19 home runs as well as sole possession of second with 66 RBIs.

The two-game series marked the first time that GCU has surrendered three home runs in consecutive games since 2019.

That did not pair well with the outage from its offense, which just had four consecutive games of 15 or more hits from April 8 to Saturday. GCU scored six runs Wednesday but was held to three hits for the first time since 2021 at Oklahoma State.

"They had a little bit to do with that," Wallis said of the Red Raiders' pitchers. "They pitch in this offensive yard, and their pitching plan was pretty good. They kept balls at the knees for the most part, which made it tough for us to elevate. We were over the top of more balls than we typically are. We hadn't seen this type of pitch plan much this year."

Yorke hit his seventh home run of the season in the eighth inning, but took this two-run shot out to the opposite field for the first time after narrowly missing another homer on his previous plate appearance's RBI sacrifice fly. His totals for home runs and RBIs (45) are the most by a GCU freshman since the Lopes returned to Division I in 2014.

While Wilson's 26-game streak of getting on bases ended four shy of Preston Pavlica's record at 26, Yorke has hit safely in 27 of the past 29 games and has an eight-game hitting streak.

Also, Lopes graduate second baseman Zack Gregory is hitting .500 over the past six games with nine walks and a hit by pitch putting his on-base percentage at .679 in that stretch.

"I've been working a lot with Coach Jack," Gregory said of assistant coach Jack Wilson. "We're just keeping it simple and I'm just trying to have fun out there. We're in a little bit of a skid, but I'm trying to bring a little energy to the team and keep us all together.

"Baseball's a tough game and hitting is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. No doubt that I think we're going to flip it around real quick."

After Wednesday's loss, Wallis huddled the team and reminded it of its second-place standing in the WAC as it heads home for a weekend conference series against Utah Tech.

The Lopes played two strong days of defense (one error) and discovered some weekend pitching options by throwing 16 relief innings.

"We made a few mistakes that they made us pay for with the long ball, but there was a different intent on the mound and on defense," Wallis said. "Now, we've got to get back to the offensive approach we've had really all year until the last two games.

"This doesn't feel good, losing two in a row. We want to play well when we face this type of top-25 program, but what we did at Abilene puts us in the position we want to be in – the two-spot in the WAC in striking distance of the leader. We're not accepting that we lost, but we have to understand that if we won today, they weren't going to crown us WAC champions or it wasn't going to mean we are regional champions. I'd rather continue to make progress right now, so that we can figure out how to play our hottest in the tournament."