Lopes start weekend in win column

Friday, February 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

5:00 PM

Grand Canyon

4-8

Niagara

3-3

Niagara

Grand Canyon

2/23/2018 9:30:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Offense on display as GCU opens Purple Classic with wins

By: Alex Nash

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon softball team got back to their winning ways on Friday night to kick off the GCU Purple Classic. The Lopes (5-8) tallied two 10-run contests and took both games against Niagara (3-3) and Houston Baptist (1-5), as GCU took the first game 10-2 and the second 10-3.

"It's obviously great to get back on the winning side, we are super excited about that," head coach Ann Pierson said. "We talked about some things at practice that we needed to work on and learn from the last weekend we played. I feel they had a great week of practice and preparation going into this weekend.

"Bobo (Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage) came out and threw a great game in the first game and it was wonderful to get Yesenia (Morrison) off the bench to come in and throw in relief a bit. She's working on some mechanical things - she did a great job.

"Twenty runs on the night - I am always going to be happy with that," Pierson said. "We had some moments at the plate and we are continuing to work on that. We are expecting pitches to be too good and we have to stay attacking. Defense was outstanding. Lexy (Alexa Coons) came in in relief and threw great innings. It's nice to knock three home runs in one game. I like our chances anytime we hit the ball like that."

GAME ONE
The offense was on display from the beginning as senior Niki Gonzalez started the Lopes batting with an RBI single and would go on to score thanks to a Sierra Smith stolen base and a throwing error on the opponent. Senior Laynee Gomez would wrap up the inning by grounding out to second, letting Smith score to put the Lopes up, 3-0.

Junior Madelyn Dowdle got on to start the second and crossed the plate short after thanks to a Niagara error to increase the lead. Midway through the third the Lopes kept the offense going with Gomez tallying a single, scoring Sierra Smith and increasing the margin to five.

Niagara responded with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth, giving the game a much different feel - enter Shea Smith. The junior smacked her first triple of the night, scoring two and giving the Lopes their cushion back.

From there it was all GCU with senior Bianca Boling hitting a sacrifice fly and Shea Smith hitting another RBI triple to put the home team up 9-2. Sophomore Jordon Keeton came in as a pinch hitter and two pitches later doubled to right center, ending the game due to the run rule.

Aguilar-Beaucage held the Purple Eagles to three hits and two runs in five innings of work until Morrison came in for the last inning and struck out one.

GAME TWO
The second game started like the first, with the Lopes on the board first thanks to a Gonzalez RBI single, however GCU would find themselves in a hole after Houston Baptist scored three unanswered runs leading up to the fourth inning.

After Sierra Smith got on to start the inning, Gomez brought her home with a yard ball to center field, giving a preview of how the rest of the game would play out. An inning passed with no runs for either side before Boling made her mark on the GCU Softball Stadium by way of a two-run homer to right center. Dowdle then joined in on the trend, launching a two-run home run to left field giving the Lopes a lead they would not yield.

Sierra Smith, Gomez and Boling all would score runners in the top of the seventh as GCU's offense provided a 10-3 win.

Freshmam Alexa Coons came in for five innings of relief work, allowing three hits and striking out three without giving up a run for her second win of the year.

The Lopes are back in action for day two of the GCU Purple Classic tomorrow facing Niagara and Houston Baptist again. Game one starts at Noon (MT) with the second game set to begin at 2:30 p.m. at GCU Softball Stadium.