Lopes hit road for Mary Nutter

PHOENIX -- The Grand Canyon softball team takes to the road for the first time this season, as the Lopes (3-3) are headed to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California. GCU will face five opponents over three days at the Big League Dreams Complex, including Stanford, Arkansas, UC Riverside, Syracuse and #5 UCLA. Game details and links are listed below.

GCU started the season with an even 3-3 showing at the GCU Kickoff Tournament. The Lopes welcomed 1,249 fans on opening day in the brand new GCU Softball Stadium before hosting 1,403 fans against No. 1 Oklahoma on Friday night. The pair of junior Sierra Smith and senior Niki Gonzalez each had a home run over the weekend.

GCU vs Stanford
Game Details	Saturday, Feb. 17 \| 11 a.m. (MST) \| Cathedral City, Calif. \| Mary Nutter CC
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| FloSoftball
GCU Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Notes
Stanford Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

GCU vs Arkansas
Game Details	Saturday, Feb. 17 \| 4 p.m. (MST) \| Cathedral City, Calif. \| Mary Nutter CC
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| FloSoftball
GCU Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Notes
Arkansas Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

GCU vs UC Riverside
Game Details	Sunday, Feb. 18 \| 1 p.m. (MST) \| Cathedral City, Calif. \| Mary Nutter CC
Game Coverage	FloSoftball
GCU Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Notes
UC Riverside Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

GCU vs Syracuse
Game Details	Sunday, Feb. 18 \| 3:30 p.m. (MST) \| Cathedral City, Calif. \| Mary Nutter CC
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| FloSoftball
GCU Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Notes
Syracuse Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

GCU vs #5 UCLA
Game Details	Monday, Feb. 19 \| 12:30 p.m. (MST) \| Cathedral City, Calif. \| Mary Nutter CC
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| FloSoftball
GCU Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule \| Notes
UCLA Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

NOTABLES

Grand Canyon begins its first season as a fully eligible Division I program in 2018, as the Lopes look to secure the first berth to an NCAA competition in GCU softball history. GCU claimed the regular-season WAC title last year and look to do the same this season.
The Lopes return 15 players from last year's conference champion squad, including seven position starters and one starting pitcher in sophomore Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage. Aguilar-Beaucage spent time over the summer competing with Team Canada at both the Canada Cup and the 2017 WBSC Junior Women's Softball World Championship. She looks to bea threat for the Lopes on the mound.
GCU also returns the pair of Shea and Sierra Smith, who led the Lopes in hitting with averages of .364 and .349, respectively. The duo will be a strong asset to GCU on both offense and defense this season, as Shea held a fielding percentage of .942 and Sierra was at .967 in 2017.
A group of five seniors in Niki Gonzalez, Bianca Boling, Laynee Gomez, Kendsey Hill and Mariah Valencia will lead the Lopes in 2018, both on the field and in the dugout. All five seniors were key players in 2017 and are expected to have repeated roles this season.
GCU was picked to win the WAC title by the league's head coaches, announced by the conference last week. The quad of Aguilar-Beaucage, both Smith sisters and Hill received Preseason All-WAC nods as well. Grand Canyon had the most preseason all-WAC honorees of any of the six teams in the conference.

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Players Mentioned

Brianna Aguilar

Bianca Boling

Laynee Gomez

Niki Gonzalez

Kendsey Hill

Sierra Smith

Mariah Valencia

Grand Canyon University Athletics