PHOENIX – California Baptist University baseball's offense exploded to win the Western Athletic Conference series finale at West Division leading and 29
th-ranked Grand Canyon on Saturday.
The Lancers defeated the Lopes 11-5, with a 19-hit game at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark. Those 11 runs and 19 hits were the second most allowed by GCU all season and the most in WAC play this year.
Ten different CBU batters had hits on the day, while six Lancers logged multi-hit games:
David Martin,
Harrison Spohn,
Chad Castillo,
Jake Skipworth,
Russell Stevenson and
Mitchel Simon.
Castillo, Spohn and Stevenson all had a team-high three hits on the day, while Martin extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
CJ Masciel and Stevenson both homered in the game, as Masciel recorded the first of his career. Stevenson landed the big blow of the game with a grand slam in a seven-run outburst in the third inning.
Not to be lost in the offensive dominance was the strong pitching from CBU, which allowed just one walk in the game.
Drew Necochea,
Spencer Bengard,
Seth Mattox and
Ryan Delgado all appeared on the mound for the Lancers. Necochea held GCU to two runs with three strikeouts and no walks in the start for his sixth win this season.
CBU improves to 23-11 this season and 9-6 in WAC play for sole possession of second place in the West Division. Dixie State and Sacramento State came into Saturday tied for third in the West with identical 8-9 league records. Grand Canyon's eight-game winning streak comes to an end as it moves to 25-12 and 15-3 this season.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
CBU opened things up with a seven-run third inning fueled by seven hits. Masciel sparked the big rally with a lead-off homer on a 1-2 pitch that was good for his first career bomb.
Four-straight singles from Martin, Spohn, Castillo (RBI) and Skipworth gave the Lancers a 2-0 lead with the bases loaded and no outs. Stevenson cleared the bases with the grand slam to make it 6-0.
Singles from
Connor Clift and
Michael Carpentier kept the threat going and Martin delivered a two-out RBI single to give CBU a 7-0 cushion.
GCU got on the board in the fourth inning, but the Lancers got that run back in the sixth. Spohn started the inning with a single and Castillo drew a walk to put him in scoring position with no outs. Skipworth then doubled down the right-field line to bring home a run. CBU scored its ninth run of the game on a wild pitch in the inning.
The Lopes scored runs in the sixth and seventh innings to cut the deficit down to 9-3, but CBU plated another run in the eighth. Castillo led off the inning with a double and then scored after Stevenson's third hit and an RBI sacrifice bunt from
Reeve Holley. CBU scored its final run in the ninth as Spohn drove in the run after a lead-off walk to Simon.
UP NEXT
The Lancers will end their season-long seven-game road swing next week, as they'll continue WAC play with a home series versus Utah Valley. CBU will open the series on Friday, April 22 at 6 p.m., continue Saturday, April 23 at 5 p.m. and wraps up Sunday, April 24 at noon.
