Grand Canyon 8, Nevada 2
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Reno, Nev. - Don Weir Field at Peccole Park

WP - Zach Thornton (6-1)
LP - Peyton Stumbo (2-5)
SV - Nathan Ward (1)

RENO, Nev. - For the second day in a row, Nevada took an early lead but had it erased as its bats cooled off. Saturday, the Wolf Pack's 2-1 lead was overcome by Grand Canyon, as the Lopes went on to an 8-2 victory.

Trailing by four in the eighth, Nevada loaded the bases with two walks and an infield single against Lopes reliever Nathan Ward. But Ward escaped the jam, striking out Dawson Martin to end the Pack's best chance late.

Ward allowed just one hit and struck out three over the final three innings to earn his first save of the season. Lopes starter Zach Thornton improved to 6-1, striking out six and allowing just two runs on four hits over six innings.

Nevada's runs came on one swing, as Henry Strmecki's deep ball hugged the line in left and stayed fair. The two-run shot put the Pack up 2-1 in the second. Strmecki finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, accounting for all but two of the Pack's hits in the contest.

Grand Canyon tied it up with a run in the fourth, then capitalized on a Wolf Pack error in the sixth to get two unearned runs across and take the lead for good. Pack starter Peyton Stumbo made a nice barehanded grab of a one-out comebacker from Emilio Barreras, but his throw to first was off-target, allowing Barrera to reach second.

Josh Buckley doubled, then Barreras came home on Zack Gregory's infield single to first. After a walk to load the bases, Jacob Wilson's groundout to second brought Buckley home to up the Lopes' lead to 4-2.

It was a hard-luck outing for Stumbo, who fell to 2-5 on the season, giving up just two earned runs of the four total over 5.1 innings. Grand Canyon got two runs off of each of Nevada's two relievers in the contest, scoring in the seventh and eighth innings against Morgan White, then getting two in the ninth against Dorsey Chatham.

Seven Grand Canyon (25-19) players had an RBI in the game, with Buckley and Gregory leading a group of four Lopes with two-hit games.

Nevada (16-24) plays two Sunday, taking on Grand Canyon at 11 a.m., with the second game, against Long Beach State, set for no earlier than 2:05 p.m.