Antelopes Get Second Sweep at GCU Invitational

Sunday, February 19

Phoenix, AZ

9 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Fort Lewis

Kara Holtorf

2/19/2012 10:56:00 AM | Softball

Grand Canyon (7-6) added two more wins on the second day of the GCU Invitational at Stapleton-Pierson Field Sunday.

The Antelopes downed Western New Mexico 12-0 in five innings. Earlier in the morning, GCU beat Fort Lewis 10-9 in eight innings.
GCU went 4-0 in the invitational and is 7-1 at home.

In the victory over Western New Mexico, the fourth over the Mustangs this season, GCU got 16 hits, including an 8-for-8 performance from the bottom of the batting order.

No. 7 hitter Kara Holtorf went 2-for-2 with three runs scored. No. 8 Haley Walker was 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs, while No. 9 hitter Kayla Henry went 3-for-3 with two triples and four RBI.

Claire Zampini and Kelsey Barak each had two-hit games.

GCU scored in each of its four at-bats.

Zampini started the first with a one-out double. Barak followed with a single and when Lauren Regester reached on a fielder’s choice an error on the WNMU second baseman let Zampini score.

Two more runs came across in the second. With one out, Holtorf had an infield single. Walker and Henry each had bunt singles. Stephanie Smith singled to left field to score Holtorf. A Zampini ground out got Walker across.

Vanessa Chavez started a three-run third inning with a single to right field. With two outs, Holtorf was hit by a pitch. Walker singled to left-center to score one run; two more came in on the first of two Henry triples to right field.

GCU exploded for six runs in the fourth. Zampini and Barak got it started with back-to-back doubles. The Antelopes had seven hits in the inning. Regester, Brandi Gaffin, Holtorf and Walker singled prior to Henry’s two-run triple.

All the batting order starters had at least one hit.

Freshman pitcher Kiley Raica (5-2) earned her second win of the day. She retired the final seven batters faced. It was her second shutout win over WNMU and third shutout of the season.

“From top to bottom, it was a true team win,” said GCU coach Ann Pierson, especially pleased about how her team bounced back after a sluggish win earlier in the morning.

The Antelopes played error-free against the Mustangs after committing seven against Fort Lewis.

“From the time we came out to warm up (for the second game), I saw we had energy, were loose, but focused,” Pierson said. “We were ready to redeem ourselves.

“I really liked how we battled and bore down. You don’t always see that out of a young team, but we continued to fight and I’m real proud of the girls for that.”

In the opener, GCU had to battle back a little more than it would have liked.

With a run each in the fourth and fifth, Fort Lewis cut GCU’s 4-1 lead to 4-3. Then, in the sixth, took the lead with a three-run frame.
Playing as the visitors on their home field, the Antelopes scored three in the top of the seventh to take the lead.

Barak walked and moved to second on a single to left field by Regester. Chavez moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitter Nicole Upshaw doubled to score Barak and pinch-runner Gaffin to tie the game 6-6. After a Holtorf bunt single, Upshaw scored the go-ahead run on a Walker ground out.

But GCU was unable to finish it in regulation. Fort Lewis scored one to force extra innings.

In the eighth, with Henry placed on second, Smith followed with a sac bunt and Zampini drew a walk prior to a Barak three-run home run, her team-best fourth of the season.

Fort Lewis didn’t go down without a fight either. Taking advantage of three GCU errors in the eighth, the Skyhawks got within one run and had the bases loaded when the game ended on a ground out to third baseman Smith.

GCU is off until March 3, when it begins Pacific West Conference play at Academy of Art. The teams will play doubleheaders on March 3-4.

Grand Canyon’s next home game is a March 20 PacWest doubleheader against Hawai’i Hilo. It is the first of 10 straight home conference games at Stapleton-Pierson Stadium.

GCU 10, FLC 9 (8)
GCU 12, WNMU 0 (5)