Lopes back on the road for tough slate in Northridge

CSUN Tournament
March 10-12 || Northridge, Calif. || Matador Diamond Stadium
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PHOENIX - The GCU softball team heads back to California for the Cal State Northridge Tournament, March 10-12. The Lopes look build off their hard-fought performances in the SDSU Classic I and solid outings in this week's tourney action.

In the CSUN Tournament, GCU will meet Toledo and CSUN on Thursday before facing Oregon State and San Diego on Friday. The Lopes wrap up tourney play on Saturday against Toledo in the second of the two contests.

All live stats will be online at gculopes.com.

A Glance Back
The GCU softball team compiled a 4-2 record last week after going 2-2 in the San Diego Classic I and picked up two more wins during a mid-week doubleheader. The Lopes produced 32 runs from 45 hits with 10 doubles and two home runs. On Wednesday, the Lopes defeated Saint Francis by scores of 4-0 and 10-7. Junior pitcher Taylor Nowlin tossed seven innings and earned the first win of the day for GCU. Freshman Sierra Smith came up big in Game 2 as she contributed four hits and three RBI in the winning effort.

In the San Diego Classic I, Grand Canyon went undefeated on the first day of play after beating Boston University 10-3 in the first game and then taking down Saint Joseph's 4-3 later that afternoon. Against BU, pitcher Bailey Bergman threw seven innings and picked up the win while only allowing one earned run and four hits. In the game versus Saint Joseph's, Madelyn Dowdle hit a game-winning RBI single in the seventh inning to secure the victory for the Lopes.

The Lopes faced tough competition on Day 2 as they dropped the first game to Pittsburgh, losing 11-3, and then were narrowly defeated by the No. 9/11 Texas A&M Aggies. Grand Canyon struggled to generate offense against Pitt, but Nikki Gonzalez was able to earn two RBI on a fourth-inning double to lead the team. Against Texas A&M, GCU battled behind some tough pitching from Bergman. She held the Aggies to one run in four innings of work but the Lopes were unable to produce any runs after the second inning and lost the game 2-1.

NOWLIN BECOMES GCU ALL-TIME STRIKEOUT LEADER
Junior Taylor Nowlin has now surpassed the GCU all-time strikeout record. Nowlin achieved the feat Wednesday afternoon against Saint Francis when she tossed nine strikeouts on the day to claim the record, previously held by Stephanie Pesqueira. The junior now has 227 career strikeouts.

On the year, Nowlin has claimed 58 strikeouts through 61.0 innings pitched with a 1.84 ERA. She currently sits at 6-3 on the season. She has garnered two no-hitters and combined for one in the team's season opener. She picked up her fourth career Western Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Week accolade for Week 2 of action.

Sizing Up the Opponents

The Rockets (3-11) went 1-1 last weekend before their final three games were canceled due to rain. At the plate, senior Jessica Lemieux is hitting .378 (14-for-37) with three doubles, a triple, homer and two RBI in 14 starts. Toledo will travel to UC Riverside for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 8 before making its trip for the CSUN Tournament.

The Toreros (7-12) finished the week 0-4 as they hosted the San Diego Classic. Before heading to the CSUN Tournament, San Diego will host Pittsburgh for a mid-week contest on Tuesday, March 8. At the plate, junior Olivia Sandusky is hitting .455 (25-for-55) with three doubles, four home runs, 13 RBI and 16 runs scored. Leading the Toreros in the circle, senior Grace Hernandez (3-5) owns a 4.84 ERA over 15 games (11 starts).

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The Matadors (11-9) went 3-2 last weekend at the Stacy Winsberg Tournament hosted by UCLA. Before hosting the CSUN Tournament, the Matadors will welcome Charleston Southern for a game on Tuesday, March 8. At the plate, junior Taylor Glover is CSUN's team-leader with .515 (34-for-66), belting four doubles, two triples, a home run, 17 RBI and 15 runs scored on the season. In the circle for the Matadors, junior Daphne Pofek (6-3) owns a 4.30 ERA in 11 appearances (four starts) with 31 strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched.

The Beavers (16-4-1) went 2-2-1 last weekend at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Leading OSU at the plate, sophomore McKenna Arriola is batting .467 (35-for-75) with five doubles, a triple, 13 RBI and 19 runs scored. In the circle, freshman Meehra Nelson (10-2) yields a 2.00 ERA with 10 complete games in 17 appearances (12 starts).

Trending
Junior Bailey Bergman had a major presence in the circle in Week 4. In the SDSU Classic I, she went 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA through four appearances. She showed confidence and poise in the circle as she allowed just one earned run and four hits with three strikeouts in Friday's contest against Boston University. She continued to impress and limited No.9/11 Texas A&M to just one run on four hits over 4.0 innings. In her four appearances last week, Bergman allowed just two extra base hits in 14.1 innings and held opponents to a .211 batting average and tallied six strikeouts. She garnered her first career Western Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Week accolade for her performance from Feb. 28-March 6.

Senior Sierra Smith had her most productive outings of the season over this past week. She led Lopes with a .500 batting average from 10 hits off 20 at bats. She collected four runs and plated her fellow Lopes for four RBI. At third, she finished the week with a .933 fielding percentage. She was also nominated for WAC hitter-of-the-week.

First-Inning Fire
The Lopes have made runs rain in the first inning this season. With a combined .453 batting average in the opening frame which includes 55 runs and 62 hits and an solid slugging percentage of .708, GCU has seen its best productivity early in contests. In Week 4 of play, the Lopes outscored their opponents 7-2 in the first inning against Saint Francis, Boston University, Saint Joseph's, Pitt and No.9/11 Texas A&M.

The Lopes have outscored their opponents 163-90 in the first inning alone and sit at 14-4 in first inning scoring and 12-3 in runs scored first. They also have a solid 12-2 record when leading after the opening frame.

The Lopes have had impressive outings in the hits category this season and after the weekends contests jumped back into the No. 1 spot with 240 hits on the year and now occupy the No.11 spot nationally with a .367 batting average.

DOWDLE POWER
Madelyn Dowdle has continued to be productive in the batters box and this weekend was no different. The freshman blasted a rocket to the outfield for a walk-off RBI to put the Lopes over the edge as they defeated Saint Joseph's Friday in the SDSU Classic I.

In the fifth lineup spot, Dowdle has accumulated 12 runs from 20 hits with a team leading 21 RBI and four home runs. She now sits in the No. 3 spot in the WAC with 21 RBI and in RBI per game with 1.00. She is also third in conference in slugging percentage (.625) and home runs (4).

In the GCU Invitational, she blasted her fourth home run out of the park in the team's 10-0 rout of Texas State. Along with a homer, Dowdle tallied a .583 batting average with seven hits, three runs and eight RBI. She also garnered her first collegiate honor for her performance with Week 3. She earned recognition from CollegeSportsmadness.com as GCU's hitter of the week.

WAC-tastic Antelopes
GCU commands the leader boards in the Western Athletic Conference in hits (240), RBI (148), doubles (52) and hits per game (10.43). Over the weekend, the Lopes fell to the No. 2 spot with a .367 team batting average.

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 now leads the WAC in runs (29) and runs per game (1.26) and still occupies the top spot with 11 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 and Newbury are tied for second in the conference in hits (34) and hits per game (1.35). Newbury has yet to be struck out this season and still sits a top the leader board with zero strikeouts at the plate to date. Nowlin commands the strikeout category (58) and Bailey Bergman now sits in the fifth stop with 27 strikeouts to date.

Two Lopes have already garnered Player of the Week Accolades during the young season. Pitcher Taylor Nowlin and most recently Bailey Bergman was awarded the honor for her Week four performances in the circle.

Lope to Watch: Kendsey Hill

Junior catcher Kendsey Hill is having a great first season at GCU. After transferring from Utah State, Hill has started every game for the Lopes at catcher and has amassed 19 hits, nine runs, and six RBI this season. She is hitting .358 in the batter's box and has added two home runs. In the field, Hill has been excellent. She has a .974 fielding percentage and has been instrumental in the success of her pitchers.

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Players Mentioned

Bailey Bergman

Maddie Dowdle

Niki Gonzalez

Kendsey Hill

Nicole Newbury

Taylor Nowlin

Kailey Regester

Shea Smith

Sierra Smith

Camree Wartman

Grand Canyon University Athletics