Seattle University received a stellar performance from starting pitcher Skyler Genger (Kent, Wash.), and the offense earned much-needed insurance runs late in the game as the Redhawks defeated Grand Canyon, 3-2, Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference collegiate baseball game at Brazell Stadium.
Genger retired the first 14 Grand Canyon batters in order before Greg Saenz reached base on a Redhawk error with two outs in the fifth inning. He did not allow a hit until Paul Panaccione led off the seventh inning with a single to center field, and then he picked up the seventh and eighth strikeouts of his outing on his way to retiring the side without any further advance by Panaccione.
Grand Canyon starter Andrew Naderer retired nine of the first 10 Redhawk batters he faced before Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.), Brian Olson (Black Diamond, Wash.), and Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.) led off the inning with consecutive singles to load the bases. After a strikeout, Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.) drove in Cray with a sacrifice fly to right field, but Naderer induced a groundout to minimize the Redhawk damage.
Naderer continued his strong outing until there were two outs in the eighth inning, when Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.) laced a double to left field and scored on a single by Cray. After Olson reached base on an infield single, Jaren Drummond replaced Naderer, but Stober greeted Drummond with a single to center field that scored Cray.
Genger walked Ben Mauseth and Rouric Bridgewater with one out in the eighth inning, and he was replaced on the mound by Kyle Doyle (Covington, Wash.). After a strikeout, Thomas Lerouge hit a single into center field, scoring Mauseth to put the Antelopes on the board before Doyle induced an inning-ending groundout.
Chad De La Guerra led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run to right-center field to cut the Redhawk lead in half. Doyle rebounded with back-to-back strikeouts, followed by a groundout to Andreychuk to end the game and even the weekend series at one win apiece.
“When Skyler is on his game, like he was tonight, he is one of the best pitchers in the country,” Seattle U head coach Donny Harrel said. “Our offense did a great job, especially with two outs in the eighth inning, to give our pitchers the support they needed, and Kyle came on and did what he needed to do to give us a chance to win the series tomorrow.”
In 7 1/3 innings on the mound, Genger, earning his fifth victory of the season, struck out eight batters, the seventh time in his last eight starts that he has struck out at least seven opposing batters. Doyle picked up his third save of the season, while Naderer took the loss despite giving up just eight hits and three runs in 7 2/3 innings of work, striking out five batters along the way.
Cray went 2-for-4 and was involved in all three runs with two runs scored and one RBI, while Olson and Stober both went 2-for-4 during the night. The top three hitters in the Grand Canyon lineup each earned one hit, but the WAC leader in team offense was held to a .097 batting average by Genger and Doyle.
Seattle University (23-22, 14-6 WAC) and Grand Canyon (27-20, 14-5 WAC) conclude the three-game series Sunday, May 3, starting at 12 noon. Jake Eastman will broadcast the game live on GoSeattleU.com, beginning with the pregame show shortly before first pitch.