Kade Mechals had reached 100 pitches in the sixth inning, while facing a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

Then, with two outs, the junior right-hander fell behind 3-1 in the count.

Coleman Grubbs fought of four pitches before grounding out to short to end the threat and preserve a 1-0 Grand Canyon lead.

That kind of resilience sparked the bats, as the Antelopes scored four times in the seventh and rolled to a 5-0 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday to improve to 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament at Hohokam Stadium.

If GCU can win two more in a row, it will get to a regional, the equivalent of making it to the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament. That is territory the Antelopes have never reached.

This is only the second year of being WAC tourney eligible at Division I for GCU.

“We’re really excited,” Mechals said. “We want to win this tournament so bad.”

Mechals was done after six innings, but he was magnificent in the 117 pitches he threw, using a changeup to battle batters in tough situations. He gave up four hits and struck out 10. He struck out at least two batters in each of the first four innings.

He struck out the last two batters he faced to get out of the second after there were runners on second and third and one out.

“He’s throwing off-speed pitches,” coach Andy Stankiewicz said. “He’s not trying to overpower anybody. He knows what he can do and can’t do. Three-one in that moment, he did a great job staying within himself.”

Grand Canyon plays at 7 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday night’s game between No. 1 New Mexico State and No. 6 Utah Valley.

Stankiewicz used one of his protests to get the umpires to review a caught stealing that would have ended the top of the seventh inning after the Antelopes scored twice on a double by Pikai Winchester and a single by Jonny Weaver.

The review worked, as Weaver was given second base on the steal, and the Antelopes added another run on Quin Cotton’s double.

“The pressure definitely released (in the seventh),” Winchester said. “We got some good hits in that inning.

“There’s no pressure anymore. We’re playing with a bunch of college dogs.”

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at [email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.

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