Petty shines in Sunday, 4-2 loss at GCU

Sunday, March 9

Phoenix, Ariz.

3 p.m. (CT)/1 p.m. (PT)

Texas Tech Athletics

3-11

Grand Canyon

11-4

Texas Tech

Grand Canyon

Petty shines in Sunday, 4-2 loss at GCU

March 09, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The righty allowed just two runs (one earned) in five strong innings

By: Andrew Stern

PHOENIX – Despite five strong innings from junior Zane Petty, Texas Tech Baseball fell 4-2 Sunday afternoon to Grand Canyon at the GCU Ballpark.

In his second straight Sunday start for Texas Tech (3-11), Petty allowed just three hits and two runs (one earned) and struck out three batters. The righty walked two.

After a couple of loud outs in the first, Petty settled into the game nicely, retiring five of the next six batters he faced to send the game to the fourth scoreless.

With one out in the top of the fourth, Tech finally dented the scoreboard, when TJ Pompey doubled, stole third and scored on a wild pitch from GCUs (11-4) Chance Key.

Looking for a shutdown inning in the bottom of the fourth, Petty sandwiched a one-out walk between a pair of outs to bring GCUs Michael Diaz to the plate. With the count 2-2 on Diaz and two away, Petty nearly struck out the Lopes DH, before ultimately losing him to a walk.

With runners on the corners, Diaz broke for second, drawing an errant throw from Tech's Dylan Maxcey that bounded into centerfield and allowed the Lopes to tie the game at one.

Looking to atone for his error in the previous half inning, Maxcey did just that, when he led off the fifth with a loud double of the left-center field wall.

With Maxcey in scoring position and nobody out, Tech's next batter, outfielder Kyeler Thompson singled through the right-side to place runners on the corners with nobody out.

With already 12 steals to his credit, Thompson quickly made it 13 stolen bases two pitches later, placing a pair of runners in scoring position.

After a GCU strikeout put the first out of the inning on the board, Tech played a little small ball, using a safety-squeeze bunt from freshman Coleman Ryan to plate Maxcey. The play gave Tech its second lead of the game at 2-1.

Again looking to make the run stand up, Petty retired the first batter he faced in the fifth, before allowing a home run to Carson Ohland that tied the game at two-all.

In both the sixth and seventh, the Red Raiders had a pair of great chances to score, but some timely pitching from GCU and a base running error shutdown both threats.

First in the sixth, Tech used back-to-back singles from Pompey and first baseman Robin Villeneuve to placed runners on the corners with one out for designated hitter and Tech RBI leader Logan Hughes. Swinging first pitch, Hughes popup the first offering he saw from GCUs Cam Cunnings into shallow right. The popup was too shallow to plate Pompey, as the runners remained on the corners.

In what turned out to be the turning point of the game, Tech's next hitter, Maxcey, hit the ball on the screws for the third straight at-bat, ripping a linedrive deep into the left-center field gap that Ohland made a beautiful running catch on.

In the seventh, Tech placed the lead off man on, in Thompson, bringing infielder Tracer Lopez to the dish. Lopez ripped an infield single deep into the shortstop hole that advanced Thompson to second momentarily, before the outfielder slipped trying to go first-to-third. Before he could retreat back to the bag, Thompson was tagged out for what turned out to be a rally killer.

The play turned the tide for the Lopes, who used a pair of two out singles and a stolen base in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead into the eighth.

Following a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, GCU added a key insurance run on another two-out single, this time by Diaz.

Down by a pair, the Red Raiders went down in order against GCUs Billy Gregory. Gregory pitched three shutout innings and allowed just one hit, the single by Villeneuve in the seventh.

Pitching well in relief once again, Jack Cebert took the hard luck loss. The righty retired the first five batters he faced on Sunday before the two-out single by Troy Sanders, the stolen base, and an RBI single from lead-off hitter Josh Wakefield gave the Lopes the lead for good.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders will hit the road for the third straight weekend next weekend when the start of Big 12 play summons the Red Raiders to Houston. First pitch for the Big 12 opener is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday night.