Grand Canyon opened play with a pair of wins at the San Diego Classic I at the USD Softball Complex in San Diego, Friday.
A 10-run second-inning propelled the Lopes (9-11) to a 12-4 victory over UC Davis. The game was halted after five innings due to the run-rule. In the night cap, the Lopes beat host San Diego 1-0, behind the brilliant pitching of junior
Kailey Regester.
"I'm really proud of the girls," said GCU coach Ann Pierson. "They played extremely hard. Our bats exploded in game one and Kailey threw the best five innings of her career (in game two)."
Down 2-0,
Camree Wartman opened the second inning with a solo home run. Later,
Haley Walker put the Lopes up with a two-run single.
Nicole Newbury and Wartman -- on her second trip to the plate of the inning -- added two-run doubles.
Bianca Boling ended the frame like it started, with a home run, driving in two more. Another run came across on a bases loaded walk.
Regester threw five innings of no-hit ball and let her defense go to work. She didn't walk or strike out a batter, but forced 11 ground outs.
Taylor Nowlin, who picked up the win in relief in the opener, finished off the game with two innings of relief, earning her second save of the season.
The Lopes lone run came in the fifth. Benefitting from three USD errors, GCU's lone hit came on a one-out single from
Laynee Gomez.
"These were great team wins and we're looking forward to riding the momentum tomorrow," added Pierson.
The Lopes will resume play at the San Diego Classic I Saturday with games against St. John's at 10 a.m. (Arizona Time) and North Dakota at 5:30 p.m. Fans can find more information on the softball season at
www.gculopes.com.Â
GCU 12, UCD 4 (5)GCU 1, USD 0