Lopes drop two to UC Riverside, Syracuse

Sunday, February 18

Cathedral City, CALIF.

1 PM

Grand Canyon

3-6

UC-Riverside

5-3

Grand Canyon

UC Riverside

2/18/2018 6:48:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Sarah Woodward

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – The Grand Canyon softball team fell twice on Sunday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, as the Lopes (3-7) came up short to UC Riverside, 1-0, and were outlasted by Syracuse, 9-8, in 10 innings on Sunday night.

"This continues to be a challenging weekend, not only in the strength of schedule but learning and growing on the fly. Game one was disappointing from an offensive standpoint because we were so slow to make adjustments at the plate. Alexa (Coons) and Mariah (Valencia) threw well to keep us in the game and defense played well, but we needed to find a way to generate some runs.

"In game two, we had a great approach in every area. There was trust in the pitching, in the defense and in the offense and that translated to their performances. We still continue to work on the little things that are going to pay huge dividends for us down the road. It's great to see Laynee (Gomez) get her first career home run and to see Kaylee Dietrich come in with her first collegiate hits and strong performance at first base. It was good to see Jordon (Keeton) come in in the DP spot and not only take aggressive hacks, but perform at a high level as well.

"Brianna (Aguilar-Beaucage) threw a great game and kept a very potent offense off balance. We need to keep our defense clean late and be able to close out games. I was proud of the kids and their energy and fight in game two. We saw so many great things we can build on."

GAME ONE
The Highlanders put a run on the board in the bottom of the first frame and the Lopes couldn't match it over the remaining six innings.

Freshman pitcher Lexy Coons worked her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the third to strand three, but the GCU offense didn't recover and the Lopes fell to UC Riverside, 1-0.

GAME TWO
The Lopes took a dominant 5-0 lead over the Orange, starting from a 2 RBI home run from senior Laynee Gomez in the top of the third. The yard ball was her first of the season, as she finished 2-6 on the day with three RBI.

GCU extended its lead in the third inning with a 2 RBI single up the middle from junior Shea Smith. The base hit brought sophomore Jordon Keeton and freshman Kaylee Dietrich in for the score. Shea Smith was 1-5 on the day with two RBI.

Sierra Smith led the Lopes in today's game, as the junior was 4-5 with three runs, three RBI and a triple. Dietrich was 2-5 in her first collegiate start, while Keeton and junior Maddie Dowdle were both 2-5 as well.

Dietrich doubled to right field in the top of the fourth to bring fellow freshman Katelyn Acton in for the score, giving GCU a 5-0 lead. Syracuse came back to notch a run in the bottom of the frame to prevent the shutout.

Cuse put on three more runs to come within one in the bottom of the fifth before an RBI double from Keeton put the Lopes up, 6-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, Syracuse came back to score two game-tying runs to push extra innings. Both teams scored a run apiece in both the eighth and ninth innings, before SU shut down the GCU offense in the top of the 10th and scored the final run for the win.

The Lopes return for one final game at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic tomorrow, as GCU takes on #5 UCLA at 11:30 a.m. (PT).