Lopes sweep Utah Valley for third-straight year

Saturday, April 23

Orem, Utah

11:00 a.m.

Grand Canyon

32-15, 7-5

Utah Valley

6-36, 2-10

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

4/23/2016 10:42:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

By: Imani Suber

OREM, Utah - On a chilly day, the Grand Canyon softball team closed out it's three game series against Utah Valley with a 10-6 finish. The Lopes combined for 14 hits and 10 runs in the contest and swept the Wolverines for the third straight year. The Lopes improved to 32-15 overall and 7-5 in WAC play.

On the weekend, the Lopes combined for 24 runs from 27 hits with seven doubles and 16 RBI. Briielle Breland lead the squad at the plate and hit .625 (5-for-8) with two doubles and a .875 on base percentage. In the circle, Taylor Nowlin went 2-0 with a save through 14.0 innings of work. She closed out the weekend with a 1.00 ERA and allowed 11 hits, five runs (2ER) with 12 strikeouts. She held Utah Valley to a .212 opposing batting average.

In the opening frame, the Lopes quickly loaded the bases after Nicole Newbury drew a walk followed by back-to-back hits from Camree Wartman and Brittany Medina. Briielle Breland sacrificed herself and flew out to right field and plated Newbury to grab an early lead at 1-0.

In the home half of the second, Kendsey Hill drew a walk and while she was tagged out, Shea Smith reached on a fielders choice and stole second to put the Lopes in scoring position. Newbury snagged a free base and Wartman punched an two-out RBI single through the middle to score Smith and extend the Lopes lead to 2-0.

The Lopes gave a free run to the Wolverines in the bottom of the third that cut the lead to 2-1.

Medina lead off the fifth inning with a base hit. Heaven Acquart who was pinch running for Medina advanced to second on a wild pitch, while Breland trotted to first after being hit by a pitch. Sierra Smith reached on a fielders choice as Acquart was taken out on her advance to third. Madelyn Dowdle drilled the ball through the middle for an RBI single and Breland plated. Hill followed with her own RBI single as the ball dropped in the perfect spot in left field and scored Sierra Smith. Shea Smith garnered an infield single and the bases were loaded. The Lopes exploited the Wolverine wild pitch as Dowdle took the free run.The Lopes finished the inning with three runs from four hits and extended their lead to 5-1.

GCU kept the hits coming as they produced back-to-back doubles to start the inning. Bianca Boiling leadoff the inning with a pinch-hit double to quickly put pressure on Utah Valley. Breland followed with an RBI double to the left field line that scored Jenna Coates who entered as a pinch runner for Boiling. While Breland was thrown out at second and Sirra Smith reached on a field choice, Laynee Gomez hit a bomb to left center for the Lopes third double of the inning. Dowdle collected her second RBI of the day with an hit up the middle to improve the score to 7-1.

The Wolverines offense caught fire in the the sixth with a leadoff double to the left center fence. They loaded the bases as a result of a pair of Lopes miscues and threatened. A single unloaded two Wolverines as they cut the lead to 7-3. A passed ball and a walk loaded the bases once again with zero outs as they kept the pressure on. The Wolverines plated again to cut the lead to 7-5. With an RBI single Utah Valley continued their offensive attack and were just two away from tying. But a fly out ended the nightmare inning for Lopes.

With the leadoff walk landed Newbury on bases to start the final frame, Wartman blasted the ball to the fence for the teams fourth double of the day and put GCU in scoring position. Newbury then snatched a run off an Utah Valley errant throw. Breland collected GCU's 14th hit of the contest as they threatened on both corners. Both Wartman and Breland made the Wolverines pay for their throwing errors and added two more runs to end the inning with a 10-5 advantage.

The Wolverines mounted a seventh inning rally as they produced a leadoff double and plated a run off a sacrificed fly, but a fly out to Dowdle ended the contest 10-6 and clinched the sweep for the Lopes.

Breland was perfect at the plate going 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBI. From 14 hits, the Lopes tallied four doubles and three stolen bases.

Lopes Quotes:
Head Coach Ann Pierson
"This was a great way to end the weekend. It's always fun to win in the road and to get the sweep, it's extra special. I'm proud of the way the kids gutted out the close innings and battled to get three hard-fought wins. We had great performances from a lot of people and when we can do that, I like our chances to win games. Well get back at it to get ready for the last series against Bakersfield and hope to end the season on a very high note."

Up Next: The Lopes hit the road for their final series of the 2016 season as they head to CSU Bakersfield for a three game stint. The Lopes will play the series opener on Friday, April 29 at 2:00 p.m. The doubleheader contest will be on Saturday with first pitch at 1:00 and 3:00.