Grand Canyon chipped away throughout Saturday night's game and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, but Air Force held on for a 5-4 win at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark to even the Mountain West series and force a rubber match Sunday.
Despite outhitting Air Force 10-3, GCU (13-25, 5-9 MW) could not complete the comeback, leaving 10 runners on base and going 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position. The loss marked the Lopes' first home defeat when holding an opponent to three or fewer hits since returning to Division I in 2014 and just their second loss since 2019 when outhitting an opponent by seven or more.
The Falcons (18-19, 9-5 MW) did most of their damage in two swings, using a two-run, first-inning home run and a three-run, fourth-inning homer to score five runs on just three hits.
Down 2-0 initially, GCU issued a response in the third. Junior right fielder
Billy Scaldeferri doubled and later scored on junior designated hitter
Trevor Schmidt's RBI single before junior first baseman
Cannon Peery followed with an RBI double to tie the score.
After Air Force's second homer of the evening netted it a 5-2 lead, the Lopes added another run in the fifth on Schmidt's sacrifice fly and pulled within one in the eighth when junior left fielder
Carson Ohland drove in Peery with a double to left-center.
Peery led the offensive effort, going 3 for 4 with a double, RBI and run scored.
GCU threatened to tie or win in the ninth. Scaldeferri and sophomore second baseman
Jake Sanko were hit by the first two pitches of the inning, putting the tying run on second base with no outs. The Lopes could not capitalize as a bunt cut down the lead runner, and Air Force recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
On the mound, junior
Nicholas Robb delivered one of the most effective relief outings of the season. The right-hander held Air Force to just one hit over five scoreless innings while striking out six, stabilizing the game and allowing GCU to mount its comeback attempt.
With the series now even at one game apiece, the Lopes will look to bounce back Sunday and secure the series in the finale.