Completed Event: Softball at San Diego State on April 17, 2026 , Win , 12, to, 3 , (5 inn.)
Softball
at San Diego State
W 12-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Tuesday, March 20
Phoenix, Ariz.
12:00 PM
Grand Canyon
18-17
4
vs
12
Utah
15-10
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 16 | 3 |
| Grand Canyon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
Photo by: Slaven Gujic
Freshman arm, big blast beat Utah
3/20/2018 7:44:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro
Morrison continues to earn clutch GCU wins
Grand Canyon freshman pitcher Yesenia Morrison earned the right to carry the team's stuffed orca when she struck out seven batters to beat No. 17 Ohio State on Friday and won an eight-inning game at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
Morrison backed it up with a whale of a performance Tuesday at GCU Softball Stadium.
With five shutout innings, Morrison gave the Lopes one of the program's better wins with a 2-0 victory against Pac-12 visitor Utah. GCU lost the doubleheader's first game 12-4 but bounced back in a second game that was limited to five because of a preset time limit that accommodated Utah's flight itinerary.
Morrison allowed one hit over five innings and moved her record to 4-2 with the help of Lopes junior third baseman Sierra Smith, who extended her hitting streak to 20 games with a go-ahead home run in the fourth inning. GCU sophomore second baseman Loriann Olson added a RBI ground-rule double in the fifth inning for an insurance run.
Morrison's success against Utah, ranked 34th in RPI entering the week, was a continuation of an in-season transformation. Through work on her mechanics and leg strength, Morrison has added seven to eight miles per hour of velocity to her pitches in the past month.
"I struggled a little bit in the beginning of the year but they just kept working and working and working with me," said Morrison, who is from the San Bernardino, California, area. "I have Mandy (graduate assistant Amanda Gardner) to thank. She's been working with me constantly, making me do a lot of leg stuff. It's tiring but it's great. Ann (Pierson) and the coaching staff just have a huge belief in me and the team so it's great."
Morrison used her change-up and mix of pitch locations to keep the Utes (15-11) off-balance.
"She's worked really hard on her snaps and she's throwing four different speeds so you can't ever settle on anything with that kid because you just don't know what's coming," Pierson said. "Her work ethic and her commitment to her plan and staying with her approach and her demeanor on the mound. When the game's tight, it doesn't matter who we're playing against. She just is like, 'Give me the ball. I want it.' I'm really proud of her."
GCU (18-17) was closing its pre-conference schedule, although it still has another non-conference series at Arizona in May, following Western Athletic Conference play.
Even in the 12-4 loss, Pierson was pleased with the Lopes' plate approach that posted four runs in the first five innings. GCU did not score against Utah in a doubleheader last year. In Tuesday's first game, three errors led to seven of Utah's runs being unearned.
The Lopes offense was quieter in the second game until Smith's home run, which came on an adjustment from grounding out on a first-pitch swing in the first inning. Smith smoked her second chance about 230 feet with the ball hitting halfway up the hitter's backdrop in center field. It was her fourth home run of the season and 13th in three GCU seasons.
"I was just really trying to get the bottom half of the ball because this pitcher has good drop-ball movement," Smith said. "It was just the right pitch, right swing. Everything fell into place."
Smith is hitting .439 during her 20-game hitting streak to raise her season batting average to .412. She and her twin, Shea, rank third and fourth in the WAC for hitting. Sierra went three for six in Tuesday's doubleheader while Shea reached base in five of seven plate appearances.
"She's a workhorse," Pierson said of Sierra. "She's a competitor. She just refuses to go down. She refuses to let a pitcher beat her. If she doesn't get a hit in this at bat, well, 'Here comes my next one.' She doesn't get down on herself. She gets frustrated and it fuels her fire more. She's stubborn. She doesn't believe any pitcher in the country can beat her. You want every hitter going up with that mentality. She goes up to prove that every time."
The Lopes have a schedule break before opening WAC play with a March 30-31 series at Cal State Bakersfield.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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Morrison backed it up with a whale of a performance Tuesday at GCU Softball Stadium.
With five shutout innings, Morrison gave the Lopes one of the program's better wins with a 2-0 victory against Pac-12 visitor Utah. GCU lost the doubleheader's first game 12-4 but bounced back in a second game that was limited to five because of a preset time limit that accommodated Utah's flight itinerary.
Morrison allowed one hit over five innings and moved her record to 4-2 with the help of Lopes junior third baseman Sierra Smith, who extended her hitting streak to 20 games with a go-ahead home run in the fourth inning. GCU sophomore second baseman Loriann Olson added a RBI ground-rule double in the fifth inning for an insurance run.
Morrison's success against Utah, ranked 34th in RPI entering the week, was a continuation of an in-season transformation. Through work on her mechanics and leg strength, Morrison has added seven to eight miles per hour of velocity to her pitches in the past month.
"I struggled a little bit in the beginning of the year but they just kept working and working and working with me," said Morrison, who is from the San Bernardino, California, area. "I have Mandy (graduate assistant Amanda Gardner) to thank. She's been working with me constantly, making me do a lot of leg stuff. It's tiring but it's great. Ann (Pierson) and the coaching staff just have a huge belief in me and the team so it's great."
Morrison used her change-up and mix of pitch locations to keep the Utes (15-11) off-balance.
"She's worked really hard on her snaps and she's throwing four different speeds so you can't ever settle on anything with that kid because you just don't know what's coming," Pierson said. "Her work ethic and her commitment to her plan and staying with her approach and her demeanor on the mound. When the game's tight, it doesn't matter who we're playing against. She just is like, 'Give me the ball. I want it.' I'm really proud of her."
GCU (18-17) was closing its pre-conference schedule, although it still has another non-conference series at Arizona in May, following Western Athletic Conference play.
Even in the 12-4 loss, Pierson was pleased with the Lopes' plate approach that posted four runs in the first five innings. GCU did not score against Utah in a doubleheader last year. In Tuesday's first game, three errors led to seven of Utah's runs being unearned.
The Lopes offense was quieter in the second game until Smith's home run, which came on an adjustment from grounding out on a first-pitch swing in the first inning. Smith smoked her second chance about 230 feet with the ball hitting halfway up the hitter's backdrop in center field. It was her fourth home run of the season and 13th in three GCU seasons.
"I was just really trying to get the bottom half of the ball because this pitcher has good drop-ball movement," Smith said. "It was just the right pitch, right swing. Everything fell into place."
Smith is hitting .439 during her 20-game hitting streak to raise her season batting average to .412. She and her twin, Shea, rank third and fourth in the WAC for hitting. Sierra went three for six in Tuesday's doubleheader while Shea reached base in five of seven plate appearances.
"She's a workhorse," Pierson said of Sierra. "She's a competitor. She just refuses to go down. She refuses to let a pitcher beat her. If she doesn't get a hit in this at bat, well, 'Here comes my next one.' She doesn't get down on herself. She gets frustrated and it fuels her fire more. She's stubborn. She doesn't believe any pitcher in the country can beat her. You want every hitter going up with that mentality. She goes up to prove that every time."
The Lopes have a schedule break before opening WAC play with a March 30-31 series at Cal State Bakersfield.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Katie Donovan (10-2)
L: Aguilar, Brianna (8-11)
Batting:
2B: BreOnna Castaneda 1 ; Heather Bowen 1 ; Kelly Martinez 1 ; Ally Dickman 1
HR: Heather Bowen 1
RBI: BreOnna Castaneda 5 ; Heather Bowen 3 ; Kelly Martinez 2 ; Alyssa Palacios 2
SH: Abby Robertson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Julia Noskin 1 ; Alyssa Barrera 1 ; BreOnna Castaneda 2 ; Heather Bowen 2 ; Kelly Martinez 1 ; Hailey Hilburn 1 ; Abby Robertson 1 ; Ally Dickman 1 ; Aubrey Peterson 2
CS: BreOnna Castaneda 1
HBP: Alyssa Barrera 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Sierra 1
RBI: Smith, Sierra 1 ; Gonzalez, Niki 1 ; Boling, Bianca 1
SH: Kaye, Taylor 1
SF: Smith, Sierra 1 ; Gonzalez, Niki 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Shea 2 ; Smith, Sierra 1 ; Gomez, Laynee 1
SB: Kaye, Taylor 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
Sydney McCray Media Availability | 5.4.26
Monday, May 04
Emily Gonzalez Media Availability | 5.4.26
Monday, May 04
Jada Cooper Media Availability | 5.4.26
Monday, May 04
Natalie Fritz Media Availability | 5.4.26
Monday, May 04