Late Aztec Rally Falls Short in 6-5 Setback to Grand Canyon
San Diego State staged a late rally in its showdown with Grand Canyon on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough, as the Aztecs dropped a narrow 6-5 decision in their second game of the MLB Desert Invitational in Mesa, Arizona.
MESA, Ariz. – San Diego State staged a late rally in its battle with Grand Canyon on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough, as the Aztecs dropped a narrow 6-5 decision in their second game of the MLB Desert Invitational at Sloan Park.
Trailing 6-1, SDSU plated four runs in the bottom of the ninth but could not complete the comeback, falling to 1-1 on the young season.
Daniel Arambula led off the inning with an infield single, while Zane Kelly and Jonathan Smith drew walks to load the bases and chase Lopes reliever Gray Bailey.
Walter Quinn was then summoned from the bullpen and promptly induced a forceout at second on Evan Sipe’s grounder, allowing Arambula to cross the plate. Shortly thereafter, Drew Rutter drove in Kelly and Sipe with a triple into the right-field corner before racing home on Finley Bates’ RBI groundout
However, the Aztecs were unable to sustain the momentum, as Quinn induced a flyout to collect the save and preserve the victory for GCU starter Garrett Ahern.
Ahern (1-0) posted seven strikeouts in six innings of work, giving up just one run on four hits without a walk before yielding to Billy Gregory, who offset two hits and a walk with three strikeouts in two scoreless frames.
Conversely, SDSU starter Xavier Cardenas III (0-1) was not as fortunate, absorbing the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on just two hits with five walks against a trio of strikeouts in three innings pitched.
Two Aztec errors in the top of the first resulted in an unearned run before the Lopes put up four markers in the third to build a 5-0 advantage.
Marcus Galvan and Carson Ohland drew walks to lead off the inning, while Emilio Barreras soon followed with an RBI double before Ohland raced home on a wild pitch.
Cardenas seemed poised to minimize the damage after striking out Eddy Pelc and Zach Yorke sandwiched around a walk to Troy Sanders. However, Eli Paton smacked an 0-2 offering down the left-field line for a two-run double, as Sanders circled the bases behind Barreras.
SDSU finally broke through with a single tally in its half of the third when Smith crossed the plate on Bates’ RBI groundout to third. Previously, Smith led off with a single to center, while Sipe reached on an infield hit, as both runners advanced on Rutter’s sacrifice bunt.
However, GCU countered with another unearned run off Aztec reliever Luka Pintar in the fourth to extend its advantage to 6-1. Barreras was hit by a pitch with two outs and ultimately scored when Sanders’ infield single to third resulted in a wild throw to first.
Making his Aztec debut, Pintar kept the Lopes at bay for the remainder of his stint, scattering five hits and one walk overall in 4 1/3 innings before fellow freshman Connor Shaw recorded the final two outs of the eighth. Chris Canavan took the hill in the ninth and finished the frame unscathed after giving up a leadoff single to Yorke.
GCU maintained a slight 9-8 advantage in hits, with Barreras and Paton collecting two apiece, while Nevan Noonan singled twice for SDSU in the loss.
San Diego State closes out its weekend excursion to the desert on Sunday when it squares off against No. 24 Nebraska, starting at 5 p.m. MT/4 p.m. PT. The Aztecs-Huskers clash will be streamed live on MLB.com. Nebraska was a 6-4 victor over Vanderbilt on Saturday.