Lopes finish weekend on high-note in shutout win

Sunday, March 19

Santa Clara, Calif.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

25-7

Santa Clara

7-19

Grand Canyon

Santa Clara

3/19/2017 5:05:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Imani Suber

SANTA CLARA, Calif. ---- The Grand Canyon softball program wrapped up the weekend with 3-0 shutout win over Santa Clara. While the contests started with four scoreless innings, GCU's bats came alive in the fifth.

With the victory, the Lopes improve to 25-7 on the season.

How it Happened

The pitcher's dueled for the first four innings as each pitcher allowed just two hits a piece.

In the fifth inning, the Lopes finally broke through putting together a two-run inning to take the lead. Sierra Smith sent the Santa Clara center fielder diving for the ball to land on base. Kendsey Hill didn't disappoint smacking another ball to the outfield to threaten. Hill stayed aggressive stealing second, leaving the door open for Niki Gonzalez to send a bullet down the left field line for the two-out, two RBI double clearing the bases and giving GCU the 2-0 lead.

GCU continued to thrive on offense in the sixth. Tacking one more run on the board. Wartman sent a bomb to the wall for her fourth triple of the year to immediately threaten. Laynee Gomez ceased the moment coming up big with a two-out RBI single up the middle scoring Wartman to extend GCU's lead to 3-0.

GCU's stellar defense kept up the momentum and continued to shut down the SC offense at every turn. The defense took care of business in the final frame, forcing the outs to seal the victory.

Up Next
The Lopes return home for a mid-week battle with No. 6 Washington on Wednesday, Mar. 22. The Lopes will host the Huskies in a doubleheader contest starting at 3 p.m. MST.