LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A pair of pitching aces duked it out Saturday afternoon at Presley Askew Field, but unfortunately for NM State a barrage of early offense for Grand Canyon proved to be just enough to back its top arm.
Chris Jefferson fired his fourth complete game of the year, but Grand Canyon scored all four of its runs in the first and held on for a 4-2 WAC victory in game one of a league doubleheader.
SCORING SUMMARY
T1 | Before he was able to settle into a dominant groove, Jefferson was tagged for all four of the Lopes' runs in the opening frame. A leadoff walk followed up with a one-out single put runners at the corners for the visitors and Tyler Wilson gave GCU a lead it never gave up from there. The designated hitter punched a 1-1 offering from Jefferson to left for an RBI single before Tayler Aguilar launched a three-run homer to straightaway center which put the hosts at a 4-0 disadvantage.
B2 | Beginning the process of chipping away at the Lopes' lead, the Aggies turned to the bottom half of their lineup. On the very first pitch he saw from GCU ace Pierson Ohl, Noah Haupt hammered it to left-center for a no-doubt homer which trimmed GCU's advantage to 4-1.
B4 | A rare walk issued by Ohl helped the Aggies pull within two. Kevin Jimenez drew first by winning a seven-pitch battle with the Lopes' right-hander and Ethan Mann brought his fellow infielder home by scalding an RBI double down the left field line. NM State's second extra-base hit of the afternoon cut the Lopes' lead to 4-2.
AT THE DISH
• Zerek Saenz led the charge for the hosts in the batters box, registering two of the team's five hits. The outfielder reached base a grand total of three times after drawing one of the two walks issued by Ohl.
• Haupt and Mann came up with one hit apiece in NM State's fourth-straight loss.
• For the league-leading Lopes, Aguilar and Jacob Wilson generated two hits apiece. Channy Ortiz (two walks) was the third GCU player who reached base multiple times in game one of the twinbill.
• NM State managed to draw two walks against Ohl - a tall task considering the Lopes' righty had issued just four coming in to Saturday's showdown.
ON THE HILL
• In a battle of aces, it was the Lopes' Ohl (5-1) who emerged as the victor. In a complete-game effort, Ohl racked up 11 strikeouts through seven frames while allowing five hits and a pair of walks.
• Jefferson (4-4) settled down after his shaky first, but the four runs he gave up in that frame proved to be too large of a deficit for the Aggies to overcome. The senior did, however, rack up nine punch outs while letting up seven hits and issuing a pair of walks.
COMING UP NEXT
• Game three of the WAC series between the Aggies and Lopes is set to begin at approximately 4:00 p.m. at Presley Askew Field. Southpaw Sammy Natera is scheduled to saunter up to the mound as NM State's starter.
++NM State++
