GCU looks to bounce back at Utah Valley

GCU vs. Utah Valley
April 22-23 || Orem, Utah || Wolverine Softball Field

WAC Digital Network - Live Stream | @GCUSoftball

PHOENIX - The GCU softball team heads to Orem, Utah to meet Utah Valley this weekend. GCU looks to bounce back from a tough series against New Mexico State and take their second WAC series of the conference season.

Live stream will be available for all three games. Friday's series opener will be available through the Utah Valley live stream at 2:00 p.m. On Saturday, the first game of the doubleheader will be featured on the WAC Digital Network. The series finale will also be available via the Utah Valley live stream.

A Glance Back
The Lopes went 1-2 last weekend, dropping the series finale to the Aggies on Saturday night. GCU now sits at 29-15 and 4-5 in WAC play. The Lopes combined for seven runs on 15 hits with three doubles and two home runs. In Game 1, the Lopes beat the Aggies 6-5 in walk-off fashion as Brittany Medina came up big with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh. GCU dropped Game 2 and 3 to the Aggies.

At the plate, Nicole Newbury went 3-for-9 with a double and one run scored as she was honored by GCU on senior night for her four-year commitment. Camree Wartman also went 3-for-9 with a double, home run and two runs scored. The junior hit her sixth home run of the season for the Lopes only run in Game 3, tying Sierra Smith for the team high.

In the circle, Taylor Nowlin went 1-1 in two appearances. The junior tossed 10.1 innings with seven strikeouts. In the Lopes Game 1 victory, Nowlin picked up her 15th victory of the season, yielding five runs with five strikeouts. Also in the circle, Kailey Regester was honored by GCU on senior night. The senior tossed 7.1 innings with two strikeouts in two appearances over the weekend.

Sizing Up the Opponent
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The Wolverines (6-33, 2-7 WAC) have lost 11 of their last 12 contests. Utah Valley went 1-2 last weekend against Missouri-Kansas City, defeating the Kangaroos 4-3 in Game 2 on Friday, April 15. They suffered their 33rd loss to BYU Thursday afternoon. The Wolverines have some ground to make up with only two victories against conference foes. Utah Valley ranks last in team batting average (.241), team ERA (5.67) and team fielding (.927).

Leading at the plate for the Wolverines, Brianna Gatlin is hitting a team-high .320 (31-for-97) with 11 doubles, two homers and 17 runs scored. The junior ranks first in the WAC with 24 walks, good enough to rank third with a .471 on base percentage. In the circle, Bailey Moore owns a team-high three wins, good for a 3-18 record on the season. In 30 appearances and 22 starts, Moore owns a 6.08 ERA with 36 strikeouts.

Facing Utah Valley
Since joining the Western Athletic Conference in 2014, Grand Canyon is a perfect 6-0 against Utah Valley. The Lopes have outscored the Wolverines 76-23 in six games, and has scored at least 14 runs in four of the six contests. The Lopes will continue their perfect record against the Wolverines as they travel to Orem, Utah in a three-game conference series.

In 2015, GCU claimed all three victories in five innings due to run-rule, defeating Utah Valley by the scores of 16-7, 15-3 and 15-3. In the series GCU garnered 46 runs on 35 hits with eight doubles and seven home runs. In Game 1, the Lopes garnered a pair of doubles and four homers as the team went 15-for-30 at the plate. Impressive all weekend, Camree Wartman was 6-for-10 with a double, two home runs and 12 RBI on the weekend, including going 3-for-4 with a double, homer, six RBI and two runs scored in Game 1. In Game 2, the Lopes went 11-for-23 with three doubles and a pair of homers. Former Lope Haley Walker was 5-for-9 with two home runs and 10 RBI in the series, including going 2-for-4 with a homer, five RBI and two runs scored in Game 2.

WAC-tastic Antelopes
GCU continues to command the leader boards in the Western Athletic Conference in hits (429), doubles (81), hits per game (9.75), runs scored (291), sacrifice bunts (34) and RBI (259). The Lopes remain a top the conference in batting average (.347). In the circle, GCU leads the conference in both batters struck out (195), opposing batting average (.258) and wins (29).

Individually, GCU's Shea Smith, Sierra Smith, Taylor Nowlin, Camree Wartman and Nicole Newbury are among the current slate of category leaders in the conference to date. In WAC batting average, Wartman (.423) continues to lead the conference in the category. In the doubles category, Wartman (16) and Shea Smith (13) remain conference leaders. Wartman continues to lead the conference in hits (63). Newbury continues to lead the category with .11 strikeouts per game through 151 at bats. Sierra Smith remains tied for first with four triples on the season. In the slugging percentage categories four Lopes sit in the top 10 (Camree Wartman, Shea Smith and Sierra Smith). Shea Smith also leads the WAC with the longest hit streak for her 14-game stint (Feb. 12 to Feb. 26) achieved earlier this season. In the hits category, Wartman (63), Shea Smith (58) and Newbury (56) continue to occupy the top three spots.

In the circle, Nowlin currently leads the WAC in six different categories. She continues to dominate the strikeout category (118) with a comfortable 24-strikeout lead. She also leads in opposing batting average (.199), ERA (2.43), wins (15) and is tied for first with three saves. Nowlin also has a WAC leading 135.2 innings pitched.

Offensive Confidence

The Lopes offense has been on fire since Day 1. GCU sits among the nation's elite in batting average, doubles, doubles per game, win percentage, runs scored and slugging percentage. The Lopes' bats have become an offensive juggernaut with top-25 positions in slugging percentage (.508) and are now in the sixth spot in batting average (.347) among their Division I counterparts. GCU now sits in the No. 2 spot with 429 hits behind No. 10 Georgia and are No. 27 in scoring (6.23). The Lopes continue to occupy the second spot with 81 doubles and are now fifth with 1.84 doubles per game.

RBI on Watch

The Lopes fell to No. 54 in the Ratings Percentage Index released Monday, April 18 by the NCAA. After dropping the series to New Mexico State University, the Lopes picked up a 6-5 victory in Game 1 against a team that had played several top ranked opponents this season. GCU has secured 29 victories to date. This season, they've had the best RPI rankings by far in program history. GCU debuted at No.45 on opening week of the RPI standings. In Week 7, the Lopes rose three places to No. 43 after sweeping Loyola Marymount. In Week 8, they came in at No. 47. In week 9, the Lopes fell to No. 51. Their quality opponents have been a significant factor in how it matches up on the national scale. GCU has faced four ranked opponents this season and a total of six from the power five conferences.

Batting Bliss

Shea Smith, Camree Wartman and Nicole Newbury have been in batter's bliss this season. With batting averages of .417, .384 and .378 these Lopes continue to wow at the plate. These offensive juggernauts have landed among the country's top tier talent in their respective categories. Wartman now sits among the top 50 nationwide in batting average and is now tied at No. 45 with a .417. With 63 hits she sits in the top 10, while Newbury's 58 hits and Smith's 56 land them in the top 30.

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 288 career strikeouts with 118 strikeouts on the season thus far.

First-Inning Fire
The Lopes have made runs rain in the first inning this season. With a combined .417 batting average in the opening frame which includes 79 runs and 96 hits and a solid slugging percentage of .626, GCU has seen its best productivity early in contests. In the first inning, the Lopes have outscored opponents 80-38. GCU is 21-5 in scoring in the opening frame and is 19-3 after leading in the first. In the hits category, the Lopes have out-hit opponents 25-7. On the year, GCU has also run-ruled 11 opponents.

Through 44 games this season, the Lopes have outscored their opponents 274 to 180. GCU's largest margin of victory was 18 runs, with one 10-run victory, one nine-run win and eight victories by eight runs. The Lopes have also amassed eight shutouts.

Young Guns

The freshmen Lopes have been phenomenal at the plate this year. On the year, they have been responsible for 50 percent of the team's 34 home runs to date. With 17 home runs between the young talent, they have now amassed 10 home runs with one or more on base, with six three-run home runs, four two-run homers and two grand slams. On the season, the freshmen have combined for 114 runs from 163 hits with 111 RBI and 23 doubles. Shea Smith, Sierra Smith and Taylor Kaye account for seven of the eight triples on the team. Sierra Smith is now tied for first with Camree Wartman with six home runs this season.

Both Shea Smith and Dowdle have been perfect at the plate in multiple contests. Dowdle was perfect in two contests against DePaul (3-of-3) and UNLV (4-of-4) and became the first Lope this season to produce two perfect outings during the same weekend during the Easton Tourney in Fullerton, Calif. Smith also had a perfect day at the plate against Arkansas while in Fullerton. She was perfect from the field in the team's victory over UNLV (4-of-4) for the second time this season. She collected her first perfect outing in Week 1 against UMBC (2-of-2).

WAC Player of the Week honors
The Lopes have garnered six WAC Player-of-the-Week accolades this season. Most recently, Kailey Regester was rewarded for her performance in Week 9 of play. She finished the series against Seattle U with a 1.0 ERA and pitched her first shut out the season. Throughout March GCU had four consecutive weeks with either a conference hitter- or pitcher-of-the-week honor, On the pitching end, Taylor Nowlin has been awarded twice and Bailey Bergman earned her first-career in Week 4. On the hitting side, Shea Smith and Brittany Medina have taken home the award for their performances at the plate.

Lope to Watch: Sierra Smith

Freshman infielder Sierra Smith has started all 44 games, batting .329 (48-for-146) with five doubles and 30 runs scored. The freshman ranks first on the team with triples (4) and RBI (36), and is tied for first with Camree Wartman in home runs (6). In her last four games, Smith is 3-for-12 with one double, a homer and five RBI. In Game 1 against the Aggies, Smith went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run to help lift the Lopes in their 6-5 victory over the conference foe. In the WAC, the freshman is tied for first in triples, tied for third in home runs and fourth in RBI.

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Players Mentioned

Bailey Bergman

Maddie Dowdle

Laynee Gomez

Kendsey Hill

Taylor Kaye

Brittany Medina

Nicole Newbury

Taylor Nowlin

Kailey Regester

Shea Smith

Sierra Smith

Haley Walker

Camree Wartman

Grand Canyon University Athletics