Completed Event: Softball at Arizona State on October 15, 2025 ,
Softball
at Arizona State
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, May 12
Las Cruces, NM
Noon
Grand Canyon
31-28
7
at
9
New Mexico State
29-22
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
1
0
3
0
3
0
0
7
11
0
New Mexico State
1
3
0
4
1
0
X
9
11
1
Photo by: Jaime Guzman
Lopes bow out of WAC finale
5/12/2018 2:10:00 PM | Softball
Sierra Smith hot from home plate
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Five RBI, two doubles and a home run from junior third baseman Sierra Smith contributed to a hot GCU offense on Saturday afternoon at NM State Softball Complex, but it wasn't enough for the Grand Canyon softball team, as the #4 Lopes (31-28, 8-6 WAC) fell in the WAC Tournament finale, 9-7, to top-seeded New Mexico State (29-22, 11-4 WAC).
"It obviously didn't end the way we wanted it to end," head coach Ann Pierson said. "I'm so proud of this team and the fight they put up this week. This was a really emotional week for the team; they were excited, they were anxious, they were nervous a little bit, not knowing how all of this works. I'm so proud of them.
"I'm proud of the seniors. You always hope that when student-athletes graduate they leave the program better than when they arrived and these five absolutely did that in every way possible. They definitely set the bar for the seniors coming up.
"New Mexico State is obviously a great team," Pierson remarked. "They're very talented and well-coached. I think they'll represent the WAC well in post-season. Now that we've been through it, we know what to expect and we'll start training and put together another good season next year. We're excited to host and we're hoping to take it to the next level finishing up on our field."
GCU went 4-2 in the tournament and faced each of the five other conference teams. Four Lopes were named to the WAC All-Tournament team, including Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage, Bianca Boling, Kendsey Hill and Sierra Smith.
Sierra Smith was 3-4 from the plate with five RBI, two runs, two doubles and a home run, while Loriann Olson was 3-4 as well with three runs. Five players in Laynee Gomez, Niki Gonzalez, Shea Smith, Madelyn Dowdle and Taylor Kaye had a hit apiece.
Sierra Smith started things off for GCU with a two-out 2 RBI double, sending Olson to home plate.
The Aggies sent one home with a sacrifice bunt, tying the score at one, in the bottom of the first. NMSU continued to build a lead over the Lopes with a three-run bottom of the second to lead, 4-1.
With her sixth home run this season, Sierra Smith nailed a 3 RBI yard ball to left center field to even the score, 4-4, in the top of the third.
The Aggies regained the lead with a 2 RBI home run to left field, an RBI single up the middle and a run scored on a wild pitch to go ahead, 8-4.
Sierra battled back with an RBI double to bring the Lopes within three, while a sacrifice fly out to left field from Shea Smith sent Gonzalez home for the two-run game.
Dowdle continued the scoring for the Lopes in the top of the fifth with an RBI single dropped on the right field line to put GCU within one, 8-7.
The Aggies added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth frame and would maintain the lead through the rest of the game.
"It obviously didn't end the way we wanted it to end," head coach Ann Pierson said. "I'm so proud of this team and the fight they put up this week. This was a really emotional week for the team; they were excited, they were anxious, they were nervous a little bit, not knowing how all of this works. I'm so proud of them.
"I'm proud of the seniors. You always hope that when student-athletes graduate they leave the program better than when they arrived and these five absolutely did that in every way possible. They definitely set the bar for the seniors coming up.
"New Mexico State is obviously a great team," Pierson remarked. "They're very talented and well-coached. I think they'll represent the WAC well in post-season. Now that we've been through it, we know what to expect and we'll start training and put together another good season next year. We're excited to host and we're hoping to take it to the next level finishing up on our field."
GCU went 4-2 in the tournament and faced each of the five other conference teams. Four Lopes were named to the WAC All-Tournament team, including Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage, Bianca Boling, Kendsey Hill and Sierra Smith.
Sierra Smith was 3-4 from the plate with five RBI, two runs, two doubles and a home run, while Loriann Olson was 3-4 as well with three runs. Five players in Laynee Gomez, Niki Gonzalez, Shea Smith, Madelyn Dowdle and Taylor Kaye had a hit apiece.
Sierra Smith started things off for GCU with a two-out 2 RBI double, sending Olson to home plate.
The Aggies sent one home with a sacrifice bunt, tying the score at one, in the bottom of the first. NMSU continued to build a lead over the Lopes with a three-run bottom of the second to lead, 4-1.
With her sixth home run this season, Sierra Smith nailed a 3 RBI yard ball to left center field to even the score, 4-4, in the top of the third.
The Aggies regained the lead with a 2 RBI home run to left field, an RBI single up the middle and a run scored on a wild pitch to go ahead, 8-4.
Sierra battled back with an RBI double to bring the Lopes within three, while a sacrifice fly out to left field from Shea Smith sent Gonzalez home for the two-run game.
Dowdle continued the scoring for the Lopes in the top of the fifth with an RBI single dropped on the right field line to put GCU within one, 8-7.
The Aggies added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth frame and would maintain the lead through the rest of the game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Diaz, Samaria (6-9)
L: Aguilar, Brianna (13-14)
Batting:
2B: Gonzalez, Niki 1 ; Smith, Sierra 2
HR: Smith, Sierra 1
RBI: Smith, Sierra 5 ; Smith, Shea 1 ; Dowdle, Maddie 1
SF: Smith, Shea 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Olson, Loriann 3 ; Gonzalez, Niki 1 ; Acton, Kate 1 ; Smith, Sierra 2
HBP: Gonzalez, Niki 1
PO: Gomez, Laynee 1
Batting:
2B: Horton, Kelsey 1 ; Glackin, Fahren 1
HR: Horton, Kelsey 1
RBI: Horton, Kelsey 3 ; Glackin, Fahren 1 ; Butler, Nikki 2 ; Castro, Victoria 2
SH: Castro, Victoria 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Rachel 4 ; Horton, Kelsey 2 ; Blueford, Destiny 1 ; Hernandez, Brandy 1 ; Szczesny, Caity 1
HBP: Rodriguez, Rachel 1 ; Butler, Nikki 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P/UTL
/ Softball
1B
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball2B/OF
/ Softball
SS
/ SoftballUTL
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