Lopes fall 1-0 to St. Edward’s in NCAA opener

Arizona Sports News online

The Lopes baseball team fell to St. Edward’s, 1-0, on Sunday in their opening game at the Division II Baseball Championship.

St. Edward’s – the South Central Regional Champion – improved to 43-16, while Grand Canyon drops to 39-18 on the season.

GCU will face Coker College – who fell 12-4 to Tampa in an elimination game – on Tuesday at noon Arizona time.

Lopes starter Andrew Naderer pitched masterfully. He went nine innings, gave up five hits, three walks, had seven strikeouts and surrendered the game’s lone run.

St. Edward’s Brannon Easterling threw his NCAA-leading 14th complete game of the season and fourth shutout. He gave up six hits, one walk and had seven strikeouts.

Offensively for the Lopes, Michael Pomeroy and Brandon Smith had two hits apiece. Brian Kraft and Steven Swingle each had one.