Lopes head to Fullerton for toughest test yet

Easton Tournament
March 18-20 || Fullerton, Calif. || Anderson Family Field
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PHOENIX - The GCU softball team heads to Fullerton, Calif. for its non-conference tournament finale in the Easton Tournament this weekend, March 18-20. The Lopes look to continue their winning ways on the road after sweeping opponents on Thursday and Saturday in the CSUN Matador Classic. GCU will face its third set of ranked opponents this weekend in No. 6 Alabama and No. 13 Oklahoma.

In the Easton Tournament, the Lopes kick off tourney action Friday morning against No. 6 Alabama and DePaul before facing No. 13 Oklahoma and UNLV on Saturday. The Lopes wrap up tourney play on Sunday against Arkansas.

All live stats will be online at gculopes.com.
Live streaming will be available via https://livecoverage.flosoftball.com/event/1021-easton-tournament

A Glance Back
The Lopes went 4-1 during the CSUN Matador Classic in Northridge, Calif. last weekend. Coming off the bench in all five games for Grand Canyon, Brittany Medina went 4-for-6 with three doubles, a homer and seven RBI over the weekend. Leading at the plate for the Lopes, Briielle Breland hit .455 (5-for-11) with a double, home run and six RBI. Camree Wartman and Shea Smith each went 7-for-16, while Wartman added a double, triple, homer and six runs scored in the tournament.

In the circle, the Lopes yielded a team 2.26 ERA (10 ER in 31.0 IP) and .202 opponent average in the Matador Classic. Taylor Nowlin (8-3) went 2-0 with 11 strikeouts over the weekend, yielding a 2.44 ERA, eight hits and a .167 opponent batting average.

Sizing Up the Opponents

No. 6 Crimson Tide (22-4) went 1-2 against No. 6 LSU last weekend and are 6-3 over their last nine contests. Alabama currently has three players hitting over a .400 clip, including senior Haylie McCleney (.472) and senior Andrea Hawkins (.443). Leading Alabama with five homers, sophomore Peyton Grantham is hitting .329 (23-for-70) with eight doubles, a triple and 30 RBI. In the circle, junior Sydney Littlejohn (9-2) yields a 1.71 ERA (16 ER in 65.2 IP) with 57 strikeouts in 14 games (12 starts). Leading the Crimson Tide with 85 strikeouts, sophomore Alexis Osorio has a 2.91 ERA (25 ER in 60.0 IP) in 15 appearances (seven starts). Freshman Madi Moore (6-0) remains perfect over eight games (seven starts), yielding a 1.54 ERA in 36.1 innings.

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The Blue Demons (6-14) went 3-2 last weekend, winning the last two contests. Leading DePaul at the plate, senior Naomi Tellez is batting .389 (14-for-36) with five home runs, 13 RBI and eight runs scored. In the circle for the Blue Demons, senior Morgan Maize (5-8) has a 5.42 ERA (55 ER in 71.0 IP) with 54 strikeouts.

The No. 13 Sooners (17-4) went 5-0 last weekend and are currently on a nine-game winning streak. Oklahoma currently has four players batting over a .400 clip, including sophomore Kelsey Amold (.472), sophomore Lea Wodach (.467), freshman Shay Knighten (.432) and freshman Sydney Romero (.412). Leading the Sooners with six home runs, Wodach has garnered a .850 slugging percentage with five doubles, 20 RBI and 19 runs scored. In the circle, sophomore Paige Parker yields a 1.50 ERA (11 ER in 51.1 IP) with 62 strikeouts.

The Rebels (14-10) went 4-0 during the Rebel Contest last weekend. Leading at the plate for UNLV, sophomore Janine Petmecky is hitting .417 (30-for-72) with seven doubles, a triple, four homers and 15 RBI. In the circle for the Rebels, junior Kwyn Cooper (6-4) owns a 1.93 ERA (16 ER in 58.0 IP) with 20 strikeouts.

The Razorbacks (11-12) lost their last three contests last weekend to No. 16 Tennessee. At the plate for Arkansas, freshman Ashley Diaz is batting .470 (31-for-66) with two doubles, nine home runs, 29 RBI and 16 runs scored. Leading the Razorbacks in the circle, junior Grace Moll (7-10) has a 4.46 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 19 games (17 starts).

Trending
The Lopes offense has been on fire since Day 1. The Lopes sit among the nation's elite in batting average, doubles, doubles per game, win percentage, runs scored and slugging percentage.

Team Doubles	2B	2B/GM	Team Batting	Avg.	Hits
GCU	60	2.14	Oregon	.387	257
LMU	48	2.17	Georgia	.382	254
Washington	52	2.17	Oklahoma	.381	223
Bucknell	47	2.07	Auburn	.380	262
Drake	31	2.00	Washington	.377	230
Auburn	34	2.00	New Mexico St.	.367	280
Tennessee	50	1.92	LSU	.367	234
Albany	48	1.91	GCU	.366	289

The Lopes' bats have become an offensive juggernaut with top-20 positions in slugging percentages (.540), scoring (7.11) and sit in the eighth spot in batting average (.366) among their Division I counterparts.

GCU continues to lead the country in hits (289), doubles (60) and tied for third in with 2.14 doubles per game. At 20-8, GCU is currently among the top 50 in win percentage (.714) and top off in the No. 41 spot nation wide.

Batting Bliss

Nicole Newbury, Shea Smith and Camree Wartman have been in batter's bliss this season. With batting averages above .400 and hit streaks to match, these Lopes continue to wow at the plate.

These offensive juggernauts have landed among the countries top tier talent in their respective categories. With 41 hits, Wartman currently occupies the fifth spot in the country, while Newbury (40) and Smith (38) have landed in the top 25 nationwide.

Wartman currently owns a six-game hitting streak and powered hits against Pittsburg, then No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 24 Oregon State. The junior continues to lead the team in batting average (.423) and hits.

Newbury currently claims a six-game hit streak and leads the squad and Western Athletic Conference in sacrifice bunts. With 40 hits, 25 runs and a .417 batting average, she has been consistent in her offensive production.

Name	School	2B	2B/Gm
Sam Macken	Minnesota	14	.61
Shea Smith	GCU	12	.43
Missy Taukeiaho	Cal St. Fullerton	11	.46
Kasey Cooper	Auburn	10	.44
Abbie Millete	USC Upstate	10	.38

GCU leads the nation with 60 doubles and 12 of those belong to freshman shortstop Shea Smith. She has distinguished herself as a versatile hitting force and has soared above expectations as the team's leadoff hitter.

Smith is currently second in the nation in doubles and has been at or near the top of the nation in the category since the beginning of the season. She currently leads the team in runs (34) and has garnered 38 hits for a .413 batting average to date and has sustained hits over the last six contests.

Nowlin Keeps Rollin'
Taylor Nowlin has been in a class of her own. She earned her second WAC Player of the Week honor this season for her performance in the CSUN Matador Classic. On Saturday against San Diego, Nowlin dominated the circle allowing only four hits through six innings pitched. She held opponents to a .167 batting average and went 2-0 with a save in four appearances. She allowed just five earned runs on eight hits in 14.1 innings pitched and finished out the weekend with a 2.44 ERA.

On the year, she has put in work through 75.1 innings pitched with a 1.95 ERA from 21 earned runs. She has held her opponents to a .180 batting average and is one strikeout shy of reaching 70 on the season.

Nowlin Becomes GCU All-Time Strikeout Leader
Junior Taylor Nowlin has now surpassed the GCU all-time strikeout record. Nowlin achieved the feat against Saint Francis, Wednesday, March 2 when she tossed nine strikeouts on the day to claim the record, previously held by Stephanie Pesqueira. The junior has now amassed 239 career strikeouts with 69 strikeouts on the season thus far.

WAC-tastic Antelopes
GCU commands the leader boards in the Western Athletic Conference in hits (289),doubles (60), hits per game (10.32) and is tied with New Mexico State in RBI (180).The Lopes continue to sit in No. 2 spot with a .366 team batting average.

In the circle, GCU leads the conference in both earned run average (3.08), batters struck out (126), and strikeouts per game (3.25). The Lopes and New Mexico State are tied for first in wins in pitching.

Individually, GCU's Shea Smith, Taylor Nowlin, Camree Wartman and Nicole Newbury are among the current slate of category leaders in the conference to date. Shea Smith continues to lead the WAC in runs scored (34) and runs per game (1.21) and still occupies the top spot with 12 doubles. Wartman sits just behind Shea Smith in the runs (25) and runs per game category (1.09).

Sierra Smith is tied for first with the two triples she collected at the GCU Invitational and Wartman now sits in the No.2 spot in hits (41) while Newbury is tied for third with 40. In the hits per game category, Newbury (1.43) and Wartman (1.11) occupy the first two spots.

While Newbury suffered her first two strikeouts of the season against San Diego, she continues to lead the category with .07 strikeouts per game through 96 at bats.

In the circle, Nowlin continues to command the strikeout category (69). She also leads the conference in opposing batting average (.180) and sits a top the leader boards with 1.95 ERA.

The Lopes have garnered three Player of the Week accolades to date. Taylor Nowlin picked up her second honor of the year for play March 7-13. Bailey Bergman was awarded the honor for her Week 4 performances in the circle.

Lope to Watch: Briielle Breland

Sophomore outfielder Briielle Breland has been busy in the batter's box. After a fantastic weekend in the CSUN Matador Classic, Breland continues to wow at the plate. Over the weekend she tallied a .455 batting average with five hits, a double and a home run (against No. 24 Oregon State) with nine RBI. Breland has continued to grow into her own and has amassed 19 hits, 18 runs and is currently third on the squad with 20 RBI this season.

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Players Mentioned

Bailey Bergman

Briielle Breland

Maddie Dowdle

Niki Gonzalez

Kendsey Hill

Brittany Medina

Nicole Newbury

Taylor Nowlin

Shea Smith

Sierra Smith

Camree Wartman

Grand Canyon University Athletics