Lopes show grit in doubleheader day at Arizona

Wednesday, March 29

Tucson, Ariz.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

25-10

Arizona

33-1

Grand Canyon

Arizona

3/29/2017 6:44:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Imani Suber

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Grand Canyon softball team traveled to play No.5 Arizona, falling in both contests. The Lopes stood strong in Game 1 falling in a 6-2 finish. GCU struggled in the second game of the day as the Wildcats took control and never relented as GCU suffered its 11th loss in a 13-0 finish.

The Lopes fall to 25-11 on the season.

Game 1
Arizona struck first in the bottom of the first inning. As the Wildcats got on the board after a home run to take the slight edge at 1-0.

In the top of the second, the Lopes remained focused as Madelyn Dowdle sent a hard hit ball to the left center gap for the double. Bianca Boling followed with a groundout moving Dowdle to third and Kendsey Hill took advantage of the opportunity. Hill hit the infield single for the RBI single, beating out the ball to land on first. GCU concluded the inning with an even tally at 1-1 off two hits.

The Wildcats quickly responded landing on base. Arizona capitalized off a Lope miscue to score the go-ahead run at 2-1. But they weren't done as they tacked on two more to extend its lead to 4-1.

GCU was not phased bouncing back in the top of the fourth putting together a one-run, two- hit inning, shaving the Wildcat lead to 4-2.

In the fourth, the Lopes started chipping away at the Wildcat lead after a Sierra Smith leadoff bullet to the outfield garnered a base. Gomez laid down the bunt for the sacrifice leaving room for Dowdle to blast out her second double of the day, scoring Sierra Smith to cut Arizona's lead to 4-2.

But, the Wildcats continued to pressure on offense, driving in another run to extend their lead back to three at 5-2.

While the Lopes gave up another Wildcat run in the bottom of the sixth GCU wasn't done.

The Lopes were determined to rally in the seventh. Hill drew the walk for the free base and Gonzalez followed with a single to right field. But, that was the closest GCU would come as Arizona secured the final outs to seal the win.

Madelyn Dowdle had a day at the plate going 2-for-3 with two doubles and one RBI. Sierra Smith also had a solid performance going 2-for-3 with one run.

Game 2

While the second contest of the day got off to a slow start, Arizona broke through in the second. The Wildcats exploited GCU's struggles putting together an eight-run, five-hit inning to take a 8-0 advantage early.

Arizona continued to apply the pressure adding four more in the third to take an 11-0 lead. GCU just struggled to put a solid inning together and the Wildcats continued to make them pay. After adding two more runs, Arizona sealed the contest with a double play to secure the win at 13-0.

Up Next
The Lopes return to GCU Softball Stadium for their WAC opener against Seattle U. The Lopes will begin the series on Friday, Mar. 31 in a doubleheader battle with first pitch set for 5 p.m. MST. GCU will close out the series on Saturday, April 1 with game time set for 5 p.m.