Right-handed pitcher Isaac Lyon and the Grand Canyon Antelopes (6-3) cruised to a 4-0 victory against the Texas State Bobcats (6-3) on a warm Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark.
Lyon collected 12 strikeouts in six shutout innings en route to earning the win.
The offense for Texas State was a mixed bag. The Bobcats got on base quite a bit, amassing seven hits and drawing three walks. However, in turn, they struck out a total of 18 times out of 27 outs. Lyons tossed six innings of shutout ball and accounted for 12 of those strikeouts, while right-handed pitcher Connor Mattison took over the last three innings and slammed the door for good on the Bobcats.
“You just have to learn from [the loss] and move past it,” Texas State head coach Steven Trout said. “You go back and watch film and get locked back in for tomorrow.”
Grand Canyon struck early in the top of the third inning as right fielder Josh Wakefield delivered an RBI single into center field for the first run of the ballgame. Shortstop Emilio Barreras gave the Antelopes another run off a fielder’s choice before Zach Yorke delivered a loud double into left to give them a 3-0 cushion.
Jackson Teer once again exited the game early in his third start of the season, pitching 3 1/3 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out five in the process. He rose his earned run average for the year to 7.45.
“[Grand Canyon] is a tough lineup for [Teer] to face,” Trout said. “Not his best game, but he competed…He gave us a couple more innings to hone our bullpen down. We didn’t want to go to somebody in the third inning on a Friday night game, so he kept us in there and kept it competitive.”
The bullpen has continued to play a big role in keeping games close. Following Teer’s exit in the third, Trout utilized four relievers: Ryan Lawton, Jackson Mayo, Cameron O’Banan and Hayde Key. Combined, those four only gave up one run when Yorke delivered an RBI single down the first base line.
“We know we have a lot of guys in the bullpen that can get guys out,” Trout said.
Among the few highlights Texas State provided were some incredible defensive plays, capped off with an amazing double play from third baseman Chase Mora, who bobbled a catch in the Texas State dugout and managed to get Barreras out at third base when the shortstop attempted to advance from second.
“As bad as this game was tonight for us and as bad as we feel right now, 12 hours later, you have to wake up and get ready to go get [the series] tied up,” Trout said. “That’s the beauty of baseball.”
Texas State will continue its series against Grand Canyon on Saturday afternoon with first pitch slated to start at 2 p.m. Right-handed pitcher Sam Hall is etched in to start on the mound for the Bobcats. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
