Lopes Drop Heartbreaker at New Mexico State

Friday, April 24

Las Cruces, NM

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

28-20, 9-4

New Mexico State

38-13, 12-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Grand Canyon	0	3	0	0	1	1	1	6	9	1
New Mexico State	0	1	2	0	0	1	3	7	9	0

Brittany Medina smashed a three-run home run Friday.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

4/24/2015 8:37:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

GCU will close out season with doubleheader Saturday in Las Cruces

The Grand Canyon University softball team gave the top team in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) all they could handle Friday night, but came up short, falling 7-6 to New Mexico State at the NM State Softball Complex in Las Cruces, N.M.

The Antelopes drop to 28-20, 9-4 in the WAC, while the Aggies move to 38-13, 12-1 in league play and secure the WAC regular-season title with the win.

"Our kids played really well tonight," said head coach Ann Pierson. "I was pleased with the fight. I thought we swung our bats well and played great defense."

"Taylor pitched really well and Mariah pitched a couple of good innings," said Pierson. "The outfielders all made some great plays and I thought Bianca and Kelsey swung their bats really well after Brittany had the big hit to put us up early."

Brittany Medina gave the Lopes a 3-0 lead in the second, as the freshman smacked a three-run homer over the left field fence to give GCU an early advantage.

After the Aggies answered with a run in the bottom of the second and a pair of runs in the third to knot the score at 3-3, GCU pushed a run across in the fifth to regain the lead. GCU's run came after Bianca Boling slugged a RBI double to right center to score Kelsey Barak, who led off the frame with a double of her own.

Haley Walker extended her hitting streak to 15 games and the Lopes' lead to two when she belted a two-out solo home run in the top of the sixth, making the score 5-3 in favor the Lopes. Canyon tacked on another run in the seventh when Barak came home on a wild pitch to make the score 6-4.

The Aggies, who scored once in the bottom of the sixth, would score three in the home half of the seventh to take the contest, 7-6.

Offensively, GCU was led by Camree Wartman, Boling and Walker, who all tallied a pair of hits at the dish.

Taylor Nowlin (13-7, 6-1) suffered her first loss of the conference season in the circle, hurling 4.1 innings in relief of starter Mariah Valencia. Nowlin surrendered just five hits, while fanning three.

"We have to go out tomorrow and finish on a strong note," concluded Pierson. "We have to continue to compete and learn against a great team."

The Lopes will close out their 2015 campaign with a doubleheader Saturday in Las Cruces. Game one is slated to get underway at 3 p.m. (Arizona Time). Live stats to follow Saturday's action will be available at www.gculopes.com.

NMSU 7, GCU 6