'Lopes Score 21 Runs in Another Doubleheader Sweep

Sunday, April 18

GCU

12:00 p.m. DH

Grand Canyon

Notre Dame de Namur

GCU's six seniors and their families on Senior Day 2010

4/18/2010 6:39:45 PM | Softball

By: Joel Horn

The hits -- and runs -- keep coming.

The Grand Canyon University softball team, ranked No. 19 in the nation and No. 2 in the West Region, scored a combined 21 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Notre Dame de Namur today at Stapleton-Pierson Field. The Antelopes won the first game 15-2 in five innings and the second game 6-2 in seven.

GCU scored a combined 30 runs in its doubleheader sweep of Notre Dame de Namur yesterday, so in four games this weekend the 'Lopes scored a total of 51 runs.

They also allowed just nine runs to the Argonauts.

They are 38-11 overall, 19-9 in the Pacific West Conference, while the Argonauts are 11-33, 7-22.

In today's first game, GCU pushed six runs across the plate in the first inning, just as it did in the first game yesterday. The 'Lopes also tallied five runs in the third and four more in the fifth.

There were several hitting stars, including designated player Tracy Lubken (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon), catcher Erika Reay (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon) and third baseman Gayle Nisbet (Phoenix, AZ/Shadow Mountain), three of GCU's six seniors who were honored before the first game for their contributions to the softball program and the university.

Lubken went 1-for-2 with a double and three runs scored. She twice was hit by pitches. Reay, who started all 64 games last season at catcher but has been limited to 13 games this year because of injury, was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Nisbet went 3-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and one run scored.

Other top contributors offensively included sophomore center fielder Kara Holtorf (Peoria, AZ/Sunrise Mountain), who was 2-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored; sophomore shortstop Kaycee Gamez (Eugene, OR/Sheldon), who went 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and three runs scored after smashing two home runs in the first game yesterday; junior left fielder Teddy Barry (Phoenix, AZ/Greenway), who was 2-for-3 with a stolen base and one RBI; junior first baseman Montana Lucas (Glendale, AZ/Cactus), who went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, one RBI and two runs scored; and freshman first baseman Khristian Morrell (Glendale, AZ/Mountain Ridge), who was 1-for-1 with a double, two RBIs and one run scored. It was her first at-bat this season. She has appearaned in 11 games.

Senior Amy Searcy (Bixby, OK/Bixby), making her last regular-season start at Stapleton-Pierson Field, pitched one inning and struck out one. She was replaced by junior Kat Hulet (Mesa, AZ/Dobson), who pitched four innings and gave up eight hits and two runs (both earned). Searcy got the win and is 14-6 this season.

In the second game, the 'Lopes notched one run in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the sixth. Senior right fielder Nikki Lorenzi (Phoenix, AZ/Horizon) went 2-for-4 with a triple, one RBI and one run scored. She also made an amazing catch to rob a Notre Dame de Namur player of at least a double.

Barry was 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored; and Nisbet went 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored.

Sophomore Ivy Campas (Tucson, AZ/Sunnyside) pitched seven innings and allowed six hits and two runs (both earned), did not walk anyone and recorded five strikeouts. Her season record is 22-5.

GCU has only four games left in the regular season. It plays doubleheaders against Dominican University of California (2-22, 2-18) at noon next Saturday and Sunday in San Rafael, Calif.

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Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score