Upcoming Event: Softball versus Southern Utah on February 6, 2026 at 4 p.m.
Softball
4 p.m.
vs Southern Utah
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, April 28
Las Cruces, N.M.
5:00 P.M.
Grand Canyon
35-14, 10-3
14
at
8
New Mexico State
22-21, 10-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
4
0
0
4
4
0
2
14
19
1
New Mexico State
0
0
0
7
0
0
1
8
8
1
GCU claims key series opener at NM State
4/28/2017 9:03:00 PM | Softball
LAS CRUCES – The Grand Canyon University softball program beat the New Mexico State Aggies tonight 14-8 in the first game of the series versus their Western Athletic Conference rivals. The Lopes bats dominated the game, putting up 14 runs off 20 hits.
With the win the Lopes improve to 35-14 on the season, 10-3 in conference play. GCU now needs to win one of the two games on Saturday to claim the WAC title. NM State needs to sweep the doubleheader in order to claim the regular season crown.
Taylor Nowlin was credited with the win, giving her 20 wins on the season.
Sierra Smith led GCU at the plate, going 4-for-4 on the day, including a home run and a double, with a total of eight RBIs. The eight RBIs is a GCU DI record as the DII record still stands at nine, set during the 2011 campaign.
Sierra Smith has now hit safely in her last seven at-bats going 7-for-7, raising her average from .336 to .366.
The GCU bats began the game with an explosive first inning, plating four runs to begin to game, capitalizing on five hits and two errors. Kendsey Hill led things off for the Lopes with a single to begin the inning, followed by Nikki Gonzalez who reached first base on an error by the Aggies defense. Camree Wartman walked to load the bases with no outs. Megan Stevens came up with a big sacrifice fly to drive in Nikki Gonzalez, giving the Lopes their first run of the game. With two runners still on base, it was Sierra Smith's turn as she ripped a huge home run to left field, scoring three runs.
Nowlin and the GCU defense took the field for the first time of the game, shutting out the Aggies offense. This made a big statement to the conference rivals early in the game.
After an action packed first inning, both teams went scoreless in the second and third innings. With both the Lopes and Aggies putting on a great defensive show.
The score remained the same until the fourth inning when the bats came alive. GCU scored four runs off four hits. Jenna Coates scored off of a passed ball to score the Lopes first run of the inning, followed by a two-RBI-double by Megan Stevens, who then scored off the bat of Sierra Smith – giving Smith her fourth RBI of the game.
The Aggies offense was quick to respond, putting up a total of seven runs in the bottom of the inning. However, the Lopes were un-phased as they scored four runs off five hits in the fifth inning. GCU's stellar defense shut down New Mexico State for the remainder of the game, only allowing the Aggies to score 1-run in the last three innings.
GCU capped off the night as they scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning. Both RBIs coming off the bats of Sierra Smith and Shea Smith.
Grand Canyon won the game with a final score of 14-8.
Grand Canyon will continue their series versus New Mexico State tomorrow in a doubleheader starting at 3pm (MST).
With the win the Lopes improve to 35-14 on the season, 10-3 in conference play. GCU now needs to win one of the two games on Saturday to claim the WAC title. NM State needs to sweep the doubleheader in order to claim the regular season crown.
Taylor Nowlin was credited with the win, giving her 20 wins on the season.
Sierra Smith led GCU at the plate, going 4-for-4 on the day, including a home run and a double, with a total of eight RBIs. The eight RBIs is a GCU DI record as the DII record still stands at nine, set during the 2011 campaign.
Sierra Smith has now hit safely in her last seven at-bats going 7-for-7, raising her average from .336 to .366.
The GCU bats began the game with an explosive first inning, plating four runs to begin to game, capitalizing on five hits and two errors. Kendsey Hill led things off for the Lopes with a single to begin the inning, followed by Nikki Gonzalez who reached first base on an error by the Aggies defense. Camree Wartman walked to load the bases with no outs. Megan Stevens came up with a big sacrifice fly to drive in Nikki Gonzalez, giving the Lopes their first run of the game. With two runners still on base, it was Sierra Smith's turn as she ripped a huge home run to left field, scoring three runs.
Nowlin and the GCU defense took the field for the first time of the game, shutting out the Aggies offense. This made a big statement to the conference rivals early in the game.
After an action packed first inning, both teams went scoreless in the second and third innings. With both the Lopes and Aggies putting on a great defensive show.
The score remained the same until the fourth inning when the bats came alive. GCU scored four runs off four hits. Jenna Coates scored off of a passed ball to score the Lopes first run of the inning, followed by a two-RBI-double by Megan Stevens, who then scored off the bat of Sierra Smith – giving Smith her fourth RBI of the game.
The Aggies offense was quick to respond, putting up a total of seven runs in the bottom of the inning. However, the Lopes were un-phased as they scored four runs off five hits in the fifth inning. GCU's stellar defense shut down New Mexico State for the remainder of the game, only allowing the Aggies to score 1-run in the last three innings.
GCU capped off the night as they scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning. Both RBIs coming off the bats of Sierra Smith and Shea Smith.
Grand Canyon won the game with a final score of 14-8.
Grand Canyon will continue their series versus New Mexico State tomorrow in a doubleheader starting at 3pm (MST).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nowlin, Taylor (20-7)
L: Kayla Green (11-13)
Batting:
2B: Gonzalez, Niki 1 ; Stevens, Megan 1 ; Smith, Sierra 1 ; Smith, Shea 1 ; Boling, Bianca 1
HR: Smith, Sierra 1
RBI: Gonzalez, Niki 1 ; Stevens, Megan 4 ; Smith, Sierra 8 ; Smith, Shea 1
SH: Hill, Kendsey 1 ; Coates, Jenna 1
SF: Stevens, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hill, Kendsey 2 ; Gomez, Laynee 1 ; Gonzalez, Niki 3 ; Kaye, Taylor 1 ; Stevens, Megan 2 ; Acquart, Heaven 1 ; Wartman, Camree 2 ; Smith, Sierra 1 ; Coates, Jenna 1
HBP: Smith, Sierra 1
Batting:
RBI: Rachel Rodriguez 1 ; Haley Nakamura 2 ; Kelsey Horton 1 ; Nikki Butler 1 ; Victoria Castro 1 ; Destiny Blueford 1 ; Kaitlyn Rubio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rachel Rodriguez 1 ; Haley Nakamura 1 ; Brandy Hernandez 1 ; Alexis Maynez 1 ; Misty Hoohuli 1 ; Victoria Castro 2 ; Amy Bergeson 1
SB: Rachel Rodriguez 1 ; Misty Hoohuli 1 ; Destiny Blueford 1
CS: Destiny Blueford 1
HBP: Kelsey Horton 1 ; Fahren Glackin 1 ; Destiny Blueford 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
4
RBI
8
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
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