Lopes open road slate at Baylor Getterman Classic

BAYLOR GETTERMAN CLASSIC \| FEB. 17-19 \| Getterman Stadium \| Waco, Texas
GRAND CANYON LOPES 6-0 (0-0 WAC) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES	vs.	NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN 1-3 (0-0 C-USA) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES
HOW TO FOLLOW GameTracker Game 1, Game 2 \| @GCUSoftball \| Tournament Schedule
Schedule vs. North Texas \| Friday, Feb. 17 - 2:00 p.m. \| Saturday, Feb. 18 - 4:30 p.m.


GRAND CANYON LOPES 6-0 (0-0 WAC) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES	vs.	NO.23/24 BAYLOR BEARS 3-2 (0-0 Big 12) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES
HOW TO FOLLOW Baylor College Live Sports \| GameTracker \| @GCUSoftball
Schedule vs. Baylor \| Friday, Feb. 17 - 4:30 p.m.


GRAND CANYON LOPES 6-0 (0-0 WAC) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES	vs.	UTSA ROADRUNNERS 1-2 (0-0 C-USA) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES
HOW TO FOLLOW GameTracker \| @GCUSoftball
Schedule vs. UTSA \| Saturday, Feb. 18 - 11:30 a.m.


GRAND CANYON LOPES 6-0 (0-0 WAC) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES	vs.	LAMAR CARDINALS 2-3 (0-0 SOUTHLAND) Stats .pdf Link GAME NOTES
HOW TO FOLLOW GameTracker \| @GCUSoftball
Schedule vs. Lamar \| Sunday, Feb. 19 - 8:00 a.m.

The Grand Canyon softball team will open its road slate in Waco, Texas at the Baylor Getterman Classic on Feb.17-19. Among the slate of opponents, the Lopes will face their first ranked foe in No. 23/24 Baylor on Friday, Feb. 17 at 4:30 p.m. MST.

GCU will play in six contests over the weekend, playing Baylor, UTSA and Lamar once and North Texas twice. GCU begins play on Friday, Feb. 17 against the Mean Green at 2, before facing Big 12 foe Baylor at 4:30. GCU returns to the field Saturday, Feb.18 for the second round of tourney action as they meet UTSA at 11:30 and UNT at 4:30. GCU will wrap up ball play on Sunday, Feb. 19 as they face Lamar at 8 a.m.

LEADING OFF

GCU opens its road slate at the Baylor Getterman Classic this weekend. The Lopes return to Texas for the first time since the 2015 season where they played in the Century Link Classic in San Marcos. They secured their first victory over a Big 12 foe since its transition after defeating Texas Tech in a 7-4 finish.

The Lopes started the season 6-0 for the second-consecutive season.

GCU will meet all but one opponent for the first time in program history. The Lopes last faced UTSA in 2015, falling to the Roadrunners in both contests.

After earning four of the Lopes six wins last weekend, Taylor Nowlin is tied with Oregon's Maggie Balint for most wins in the nation. She currently ranks 17th in strikeouts (22) and 28th in strikeouts per game (9.62).

Freshman Loriann Olson finished her opening weekend in a GCU uniform batting .462 through five appearances, going 7-of-14 with four runs and one RBI.

Last time out

GCU went a perfect 6-0 on opening weekend after hosting Northern Colorado and Bradley in the GCU Kickoff Tournament. GCU produced an overall .364 batting average adding 37 runs from 63 hits which included 13 doubles, two triples and two home runs. The Lopes garnered their first run-rule win of the year against Bradley on Saturday, shutting down the Braves in five innings for the 11-3 finish. The Lopes also collected their first extra inning win on Sunday after defeating Bradley in a thriller that was decided via the international tie-breaker rule at 5-4. The Lopes start 6-0 for the second-straight season.

Sizing up the Opponents

Scouting North Texas

The Mean Green are currently 1-3 on the season with two losses to Arkansas on opening weekend.
North Texas returns nine players, including Kelli Schkade, the team leader in batting (.398), runs (52), hits (70), doubles (16), home runs (13) and RBI (42) from a year ago.
Head coach Tracey Kee enters his fourth year at the helm of the program as one of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division I, boasting a career record of 756-448-1.

Scouting No.23/24 Baylor

The Bears are currently 3-2 on the year after picking up wins over Cal State Northridge, Northwestern and Tulsa in the Hillenbrand Invitational.
In 2016, the Bears finished with a 45-14 record, going 13-4 in the Big 12. Baylor saw their 2016 season cut short in the NCAA Eugene Regional Championship game, falling 8-1 to No. 4 Oregon.
Head coach Glenn Moore enters his 17th season with Baylor, boasting a 652-308 (.679) record with the Bears.

Scouting UTSA

The Roadrunners are currently 1-2 on the season with all three contests against NM State.
Off to a hot start for the Roadrunners, Lindsey Stewart is hitting a team-lead .818 (9-for-11) batting average. Crawford has recorded two solo homers through three games this season.
Head coach Michelle Cheatham enters her fourth season at the helm of UTSA after spending the previous eight seasons as an assistant.

Scouting Lamar

The Cardinals come into the weekend with a 2-3 record after securing a pair of wins over Central Michigan in the Aggie Classic.
They finished 2016 with program record in wins with a 35-22 record.
Lamar returns outfielder Brittany Rodriguez after she set a school record with 70 hits in 2016. The Cardinals also return RHP Ciara Luna (17-8). The 2016 Southland Newcomer of the Year held a 2.60 ERA a year ago.
Head coach Holly Bruder fourth season at the helm of the Lamar softball program. She led the team to a program record 35 wins in 2016.

Up Next
GCU will return home to host the GCU Invitational on Feb. 23-26 as the Lopes welcome San Jose State, Portland State, Nevada and Rhode Island to GCU Softball Stadium. The Lopes will open tourney action on Thursday, Feb. 23 against San Jose State. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. MST.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brianna Aguilar

Taylor Nowlin

Loriann Olson

Shea Smith

Camree Wartman

Grand Canyon University Athletics