Completed Event: Softball versus Boise State on April 11, 2026 , Win , 6, to, 1
Softball
vs Boise State
W 6-1
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Gillian Rea
Coro: Softball bonds to respond
2/5/2019 9:31:00 AM | Softball, Paul Coro
Lopes build on WAC title-round run with promising contender
Grand Canyon softball desires success more than it fears failure.
That is why the Lopes regularly do drills that set them up to fail. Three at a time, players weave through each other like a basketball drill while throwing and catching from foul pole to foul pole at GCU Softball Stadium. In offseason training, the Lopes split into teams for an obstacle course, but two of the three units must always lose.
For all the program's success under 16th-year head coach Ann Pierson, the Lopes are motivated by the defeat that ended last season – a 9-7 loss to New Mexico State in the championship round of its first WAC Tournament appearance. Heading into an even more challenging schedule that opens at home Thursday with the four-day GCU Kickoff Tournament, the Lopes return most of the nation's No. 12 hitting team with added speed, deeper pitching and more mental resolve to exceed the WAC preseason poll's prediction of repeat runner-up.
To get ready for a schedule that features 10 NCAA tournament teams, including visits from No. 4 Oklahoma on Friday and defending national champion Florida State in March, the Lopes trained on the field and in the weight room to embrace the challenges.
"It's supposed to be hard," GCU sophomore catcher/first baseman Kaylee Dietrich said of the preseason work. "The important part is, how are you going to treat your teammates? Are you going to have each other's backs or are you just going to be negative? It's more like, 'I know you messed up, but I'm still going to be have your back and I'm still going to motivate you.' "
Coming off the program's third consecutive season of more than 30 wins, the Lopes have bonded like sisters. Pierson said performance specialist Sebastian Brandon helped lay a stronger foundation in body and mind with the team in the weight room, where teamwork and fortitude were emphasized.
"If you want to be successful, there has to be a pattern and a consistency of expectations and work ethic and commitment to it," Pierson said. "Don't give in when it's hard. It's going to be hard most of the time. That's what we're really trying to train them and teach them, and I feel like they're really bought into that."
The Lopes can feel just as strongly about the returning crew, led by Preseason All-WAC selections Shea and Sierra Smith on the left side of the infield and Brianna Aguilar in the circle. Each Smith twin has led GCU in hitting the past two seasons (Shea at .364 in 2017 and Sierra at .392 last season) and form the senior class with Taylor Kaye, moving from right field to center field this season, and fourth-year starting left fielder Maddie Dowdle.
Some of the lineup's pop left with last year's graduating class, but replacements arrived in six freshman position players and sophomore catcher/first baseman Lilly Bishop, who hit five home runs last season as a North Carolina State starter.
"We've got people in the lineup that will generate the power, but we do have a lot more speed," Pierson said. "We're going to put a lot of pressure on defenses because of how fast we are."
Aguilar joins sophomores Lexy Coons and Yessie Morrison as returning pitchers for a staff that was bolstered by the addition of another sophomore, Ryan Denhart, who transferred from Maryland after 28 starts there last season.
That depth should serve GCU well in the postseason, when it will host this year's WAC Tournament at GCU Softball Stadium. Aguilar pitched in all six of the Lopes' WAC Tournament games last year, picking up three consecutive wins in an exhausting rally that pulled GCU out of the losers' bracket and into the championship round.
"The bonds this year are a lot different," Aguilar said of the team. "We connect off the field better than we did last year, which has been awesome to see. Softball-wise, our goals are a lot more mentally focused to where we're trying to bring a different, positive work environment. That's created a whole different vibe with our team of just keeping everyone upbeat. We're preparing different mentally this year, and it's making a big change."
Pierson has the blend of Aguilar, who started 26 games last season, with Denhart's variety of pitches, Coons' increased velocity and Morrison's mix of pitch speeds and locations that frustrates batters.
Pierson said last season's team felt the pressure of being eligible for Division I postseason for the first time. The players acknowledge that the focus for portions of the schedule did not match the intensity they had for high-profile games.
"Every day since August, we've been coming out and showing them what we have," Dietrich said. "We haven't been complaining. We've been just going hard. Because we know, after losing to New Mexico State in the championship, that we have a lot of work to do and they weren't going to do that to us again this year."
GCU's main goal will be to win the WAC, but its schedule is also set up to have a chance at the postseason regardless of conference tournament outcome. The Lopes will play three top-10 teams (No. 1 Florida State twice, No. 4 Oklahoma twice and No. 7 Arizona three times) and seven other 2018 NCAA tournament qualifiers.
"We schedule so tough so that, when we get into the tournament, we're not intimidated by any of the teams we're going to see because we've seen the Oklahomas, the Arizonas, the Ohio States," Pierson said.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
That is why the Lopes regularly do drills that set them up to fail. Three at a time, players weave through each other like a basketball drill while throwing and catching from foul pole to foul pole at GCU Softball Stadium. In offseason training, the Lopes split into teams for an obstacle course, but two of the three units must always lose.
For all the program's success under 16th-year head coach Ann Pierson, the Lopes are motivated by the defeat that ended last season – a 9-7 loss to New Mexico State in the championship round of its first WAC Tournament appearance. Heading into an even more challenging schedule that opens at home Thursday with the four-day GCU Kickoff Tournament, the Lopes return most of the nation's No. 12 hitting team with added speed, deeper pitching and more mental resolve to exceed the WAC preseason poll's prediction of repeat runner-up.
To get ready for a schedule that features 10 NCAA tournament teams, including visits from No. 4 Oklahoma on Friday and defending national champion Florida State in March, the Lopes trained on the field and in the weight room to embrace the challenges.
"It's supposed to be hard," GCU sophomore catcher/first baseman Kaylee Dietrich said of the preseason work. "The important part is, how are you going to treat your teammates? Are you going to have each other's backs or are you just going to be negative? It's more like, 'I know you messed up, but I'm still going to be have your back and I'm still going to motivate you.' "
Coming off the program's third consecutive season of more than 30 wins, the Lopes have bonded like sisters. Pierson said performance specialist Sebastian Brandon helped lay a stronger foundation in body and mind with the team in the weight room, where teamwork and fortitude were emphasized.
"If you want to be successful, there has to be a pattern and a consistency of expectations and work ethic and commitment to it," Pierson said. "Don't give in when it's hard. It's going to be hard most of the time. That's what we're really trying to train them and teach them, and I feel like they're really bought into that."
The Lopes can feel just as strongly about the returning crew, led by Preseason All-WAC selections Shea and Sierra Smith on the left side of the infield and Brianna Aguilar in the circle. Each Smith twin has led GCU in hitting the past two seasons (Shea at .364 in 2017 and Sierra at .392 last season) and form the senior class with Taylor Kaye, moving from right field to center field this season, and fourth-year starting left fielder Maddie Dowdle.
Some of the lineup's pop left with last year's graduating class, but replacements arrived in six freshman position players and sophomore catcher/first baseman Lilly Bishop, who hit five home runs last season as a North Carolina State starter.
"We've got people in the lineup that will generate the power, but we do have a lot more speed," Pierson said. "We're going to put a lot of pressure on defenses because of how fast we are."
Aguilar joins sophomores Lexy Coons and Yessie Morrison as returning pitchers for a staff that was bolstered by the addition of another sophomore, Ryan Denhart, who transferred from Maryland after 28 starts there last season.
That depth should serve GCU well in the postseason, when it will host this year's WAC Tournament at GCU Softball Stadium. Aguilar pitched in all six of the Lopes' WAC Tournament games last year, picking up three consecutive wins in an exhausting rally that pulled GCU out of the losers' bracket and into the championship round.
"The bonds this year are a lot different," Aguilar said of the team. "We connect off the field better than we did last year, which has been awesome to see. Softball-wise, our goals are a lot more mentally focused to where we're trying to bring a different, positive work environment. That's created a whole different vibe with our team of just keeping everyone upbeat. We're preparing different mentally this year, and it's making a big change."
Pierson has the blend of Aguilar, who started 26 games last season, with Denhart's variety of pitches, Coons' increased velocity and Morrison's mix of pitch speeds and locations that frustrates batters.
Pierson said last season's team felt the pressure of being eligible for Division I postseason for the first time. The players acknowledge that the focus for portions of the schedule did not match the intensity they had for high-profile games.
"Every day since August, we've been coming out and showing them what we have," Dietrich said. "We haven't been complaining. We've been just going hard. Because we know, after losing to New Mexico State in the championship, that we have a lot of work to do and they weren't going to do that to us again this year."
GCU's main goal will be to win the WAC, but its schedule is also set up to have a chance at the postseason regardless of conference tournament outcome. The Lopes will play three top-10 teams (No. 1 Florida State twice, No. 4 Oklahoma twice and No. 7 Arizona three times) and seven other 2018 NCAA tournament qualifiers.
"We schedule so tough so that, when we get into the tournament, we're not intimidated by any of the teams we're going to see because we've seen the Oklahomas, the Arizonas, the Ohio States," Pierson said.
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Players Mentioned
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