Lopes sweep WAC-opening series

Saturday, March 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

21-13, 0

Utah Valley

7-15, 0

Utah Valley

Grand Canyon

3/23/2019 8:25:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

GCU goes yard twice for 9th straight win

By: Sarah Woodward

The Grand Canyon softball team secured a sweep over Utah Valley in its first weekend of conference play with an 8-4 decision on Saturday night at GCU Softball Stadium, as the Lopes claimed their ninth straight victory at home.

The Lopes (21-13) finished the weekend 3-0 against the Wolverines (7-15) with home runs from sophomore catcher Kaylee Dietrich and freshman second baseman Savannah Tourville in the series finale.

"It was a great weekend," GCU head coach Ann Pierson said. "I'm understanding that it's the first time since we've been Division I that we've swept a series opener in conference play. Utah Valley is a very tough, very athletic, very strong team. We knew it was going to be a battle and I was really proud of our pitching staff and what they were able to accomplish in a three-game series, because that is a tough offense to hold in check, never mind shut out.

"We've got hot bats going and they continued to work on getting better throughout the game, and that's been their approach that they've worked on with (associate head coach) Christi (Musser). Just to get better throughout the game and not let the same pitcher, the same location beat you. We just had some clutch hitting, certainly tonight with Kaylee Dietrich and Savannah Tourville's home runs. Maddie Dowdle had a tremendous weekend and that was really fun for her. I'm proud of the kids, proud of the energy and the team feel and effort. I'm looking forward to going to Caifornial Baptist and hopefully keep it rolling."

Utah Valley jumped ahead in the top of the second with two home runs, putting the Wolverines up 3-0.

Dietrich answered for the Lopes, sending a three-run bomb over the left field wall to plate senior outfielder Taylor Kaye and junior designated player Jordon Keeton. The rally began with Keeton's stand-up double to left center and continued with a single from Kaye, who also stole second base before Dietrich's third home run of the season.

The Wolverines put another run on the board in the top of the third to take a 4-3 lead over the Lopes.

Two walks got GCU started on offense in the bottom of the fourth, putting Dietrich and senior shortstop Shea Smith on base. Tourville stepped to the plate with two outs and homred over the left-field wall to send three runners home and put GCU ahead 6-4. Tourville leads the team with five home runs this season.

The Lopes tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to increase their lead to four. Shea and Sierra Smith both singled and advanced on a wild pitch with Tourville up to bat. The freshman hit a sacrifice fly to right field to advance Sierra to third and score Shea. Freshman first baseman Taylor Olsen tallied an RBI on a single to second base, sending Sierra Smith home to put the Lopes up 8-4 at the end of the sixth frame.

GCU finished the game strong on defense, putting the Wolverines down in order in the top of the seventh inning to secure the win.

Sophomore pitcher Lexy Coons got the start for GCU before sophomore transfer Ryan Denhart stepped in for relief. Denhart struck out three without allowing an earned run in six innings to earn the win and improve to 7-3 this season.

The Lopes head out next weekend for their first WAC road trip at California Baptist. GCU and CBU start the three-game series at 5:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) on Friday.