PHOENIX, Ariz. — Junior JP Smith homered and Cameron Sewell drove in a run to stake Sacramento State to an early lead, but host Grand Canyon answered by scoring eight times in the final four innings to avoid a sweep and post a 9-2 victory over the Hornets on Sunday afternoon at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark in Phoenix.
The Hornets fell to 28-20 overall and 12-6 in Western Athletic Conference play with the loss, but still leaves Arizona with their fifth consecutive series victory — its longest since 2022. The Lopes improved to 27-20 overall and 13-8 with the win, avoiding their first series sweep at the hands of Sacramento State since 1992.
Smith's home run was his ninth of the season and gave him 45 for his career, extending his own school record and moving him into eighth place on the WAC list. His solo shot in the fourth on Sunday was the Hornets' first hit of the game and tied the score at one apiece after GCU had put up a run in the third to take the lead.
Following the blast, Matt Masciangelo singled and Jakob Poturnak hit the first of his two doubles to put a pair in scoring position for Sewell, whose ground ball to the right side was enough to plate the go-ahead run and put Sacramento State ahead, 2-1.
However, the Lopes answered back with their biggest single-inning of the weekend, scoring four times in the fifth to take the lead for good and tacking on two more in the sixth along with single runs in the seventh and eighth innings for the final 9-2 score.
Sacramento State, which combined for 44 hits in the first two games of the series, was limited to just six hits on Sunday, two of those off the bat of Poturnak. Tyler White and Orlando Cobarrubias also tallied singles on the day.
Andrew Monson (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season, responsible for three runs on a hit and a walk while facing three batters in the fifth. Starter Carson Latimer threw the first 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out a pair.
The Hornets return to John Smith Field on Tuesday (May 6) for their final midweek game of the season at 6 p.m. before hitting the road for the final time in the regular season for a three-game series at Utah Valley next weekend (May 9-11).
