Arizona Baseball falls to Grand Canyon, loses season series

TUCSON, AZ – Despite rallying to tie the game, Arizona Baseball (32-15, 13-8) fell to Grand Canyon (31-15, 17-4) as the Lopes scored four runs in the ninth.  

Entering this mid-week tilt between intra-state rivals, we knew it would be a battle as both Grand Canyon and Arizona Baseball have been playing great baseball as of late. And from start to finish, this one didn’t disappoint.

The Wildcats would fall behind early, trailing by as many as four runs as they entered the bottom half of the seventh inning. But luckily, the Wildcats wouldn’t go quietly.

Rallying in the seventh and eighth innings, Arizona would tie the game at 7-7 after scoring four unanswered runs. Unfortunately for us, Grand Canyon wouldn’t go quietly either. The Lopes would plate for more runs in the ninth, running away with the 11-7 victory.

Offensively, Arizona was led by the play of Tony Bullard and Daniel Susac who went a combined 5-7 from the plate with four RBIs. Even despite the Cats’ offensive firepower, it wasn’t enough for Arizona.

The bigger story in this one was the Wildcats’ pitchers getting roughed up on the mound. Turning to Eric Orloff, he would have a respectable day as he lasted five innings surrendering just four runs on six hits while striking out five.

He would be relieved by George Arias, Jr., Holden Christian, Jonathan Guardado, Javyn Pimental, Quinn Flanagan, Trevor Long, and Holden Christian in sequential order.

The Lopes would mostly get to George, Javyn, and Trevor, plating the remaining seven runs on 10 hits off those three.

Falling behind 7-3, Arizona Baseball rallied late to tie it, but Grand Canyon scored four more late runs to secure the 11-7 victory and regular-season series win.

Looking to pick up the regular-season series win in this mid-week tilt, unfortunately, Arizona would come out a bit flat, falling behind early as Grand Canyon plated two runs in the first inning.

Luckily, the Wildcats would get a run back in the first when Susac flew out to right field, scoring Nik McClaughry to make it 2-1. Unfortunately, Grand Canyon wouldn’t let their foot off the gas.

Plating two more runs in the third, the Lopes would lead 4-1 before Arizona would score in subsequent innings to bring the game to 4-3. But unfortunately, the Wildcats still found themselves chasing one run.

Needing a bit more offensive output, Arizona would not be able to get it as Grand Canyon plated two more runs in the sixth, followed by a one-run inning in the top of the seventh to expand their lead to 7-3.

Finally, the Wildcats’ offense would come alive! Scoring a run in the seventh, Tanner O’Tremba would get the rally started when doubled to centerfield, scoring Nik McClaughry to make it 7-4.

In the following inning, Arizona would receive some timely hitting from virtually everyone, scoring three more runs to tie the game at 7-7 after Bullard singled up the middle, scoring Wildcat first baseman, Tommy Splaine.

Unfortunately, that would be the biggest highlight of the game for the Cats as Grand Canyon exploded for four runs in the ninth to steal the game with an 11-7 victory, and securing the regular-season series win.

Despite his recent promising play, Long would pick up the loss in this one as Grand Canyon plated all four of their ninth innings runs off him. With the loss, Trevor now falls to 5-1 on the season, and his ERA rose to 2.67.

Where does Arizona Baseball go from here?

With the loss, Arizona falls to 32-15 (13-8) on the year and will return to action on Friday evening when they take on conference rival USC for an important three-game series. The first pitch for Friday is set for 7:00 PM and the game will be televised on Pac-12 Arizona.