Completed Event: Softball at Colorado State on May 2, 2026 , Win , 11, to, 2 , (5 inn.)
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Coro: Tucson-bred Lopes set for UA
4/12/2019 7:13:00 AM | Softball, Paul Coro
GCU carries more Tucsonans than 8th-ranked Wildcats
In softball circles, everyone recognizes what it means to see the cardinal and navy of Arizona in their stadium.
The Wildcats have claimed eight national championships, reached the NCAA tournament a record 32 consecutive times and are led by a head coach, Mike Candrea, with the second-most wins (1,595) in NCAA history.
When No. 8 Arizona visits GCU for the first time ever in a 5 p.m. Friday doubleheader and a Fox Sports Arizona broadcast at 1 p.m. Saturday, there will be seven Lopes players who fully understand the meaning of the perennial power's visit.
Seven GCU players come from Southern Arizona with five of them being from Tucson, where UA is located. The eighth-ranked Wildcats have three players from Tucson.
"When I was in sixth or seventh grade, I thought the girls were so amazing and now I'm in a spot where I can compete against this team that I've been looking up to for a long time," said GCU senior outfielder Maddie Dowdle, a Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian Academy graduate.
"It has always been my goal to play at such a high level. It gets me really pumped to play the sport that I've been working so hard to succeed at and playing against Arizona is playing against the best in the country."
Like some of her teammates, Dowdle grew up going to UA softball games. Just as her grandparents took her regularly to Hillenbrand Stadium, GCU junior outfielder and Tucson native Loriann Olson went to several Wildcats game every year with her father.
"It's surreal that we're on the same field as them and how many accomplishments the team has had," Olson said.
"Definitely nerve-racking too.
"Knowing how much history the program has, playing them the last couple years has been a super-cool experience with being on the same field with them and Mike Candrea. It'll definitely bring a lot of people to our stadium and get the word out that we're good."
GCU (26-14) ranks 58th in the nation by NCAA Rating Percentage Index, putting the Lopes in the top 20 percent of all Division I teams. The Lopes are coming off outscoring CSU Bakersfield 18-3 in a weekend sweep but UA (32-7) is coming off outscoring Utah 48-3 in a weekend sweep.
The Wildcats are on a 14-game winning streak, are undefeated on the road, lead the nation in home runs (1.97 per game), rank sixth in batting average (.344) and rank seventh in earned run average (1.57).
"We're facing one of the top teams in the country so being able to learn how to hit that high level of pitching, we take it how it is," Dowdle said. "They're the same age as us. They've been playing the same amount of time. We have to attack the game and be aggressive."
There is even familiarity with Olson playing at Tucson Ironwood Ridge High School with UA freshman Izzy Pacho. Sophomores Christine Bellavia, of GCU, and Carli Campbell, of UA, also were high school teammate sat Tucson Canyon del Oro.
The Lopes have proven their ability to contend on an elite level when they snapped defending national champion Florida State's 28-game winning streak at GCU Softball Stadium last month and lost 1-0 at No. 3 Oklahoma. UA's last defeats came when it lost two of three games against Florida State in March, when it also lost 2-1 to Oklahoma.
"We have everything to gain in these situations," Dowdle said. "That's when I think we play our best."
UA features the nation's leader in home runs (junior shortstop Jessie Harper with 21) and 11th-leading hitter (junior second baseman Reyna Carranco at .460) but the Lopes have a .400 hitter in senior shortstop Shea Smith and a pitching staff whose ERA (2.26) ranks 35th in the nation.
And with Bellavia, Dowdle, Olson, Brianna Aguilar and Lexy Coons from Tucson, Kelsey Hawkins from Marana and Jordon Keeton from Casa Grande, the Lopes have more Southern Arizonans than any team to understand the opportunity of playing Arizona in a Friday evening doubleheader and a Fox Sports Arizona broadcast Saturday. The 1 p.m. Saturday game is part of Fox Sports Arizona's "Baseball Day Arizona," 24 hours of in-state baseball/softball programming.
"It's definitely going to be a really great experience," Olson said. "We're going out there to win. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
The Wildcats have claimed eight national championships, reached the NCAA tournament a record 32 consecutive times and are led by a head coach, Mike Candrea, with the second-most wins (1,595) in NCAA history.
When No. 8 Arizona visits GCU for the first time ever in a 5 p.m. Friday doubleheader and a Fox Sports Arizona broadcast at 1 p.m. Saturday, there will be seven Lopes players who fully understand the meaning of the perennial power's visit.
Seven GCU players come from Southern Arizona with five of them being from Tucson, where UA is located. The eighth-ranked Wildcats have three players from Tucson.
"When I was in sixth or seventh grade, I thought the girls were so amazing and now I'm in a spot where I can compete against this team that I've been looking up to for a long time," said GCU senior outfielder Maddie Dowdle, a Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian Academy graduate.
"It has always been my goal to play at such a high level. It gets me really pumped to play the sport that I've been working so hard to succeed at and playing against Arizona is playing against the best in the country."
Like some of her teammates, Dowdle grew up going to UA softball games. Just as her grandparents took her regularly to Hillenbrand Stadium, GCU junior outfielder and Tucson native Loriann Olson went to several Wildcats game every year with her father.
"It's surreal that we're on the same field as them and how many accomplishments the team has had," Olson said.
"Definitely nerve-racking too.
"Knowing how much history the program has, playing them the last couple years has been a super-cool experience with being on the same field with them and Mike Candrea. It'll definitely bring a lot of people to our stadium and get the word out that we're good."
GCU (26-14) ranks 58th in the nation by NCAA Rating Percentage Index, putting the Lopes in the top 20 percent of all Division I teams. The Lopes are coming off outscoring CSU Bakersfield 18-3 in a weekend sweep but UA (32-7) is coming off outscoring Utah 48-3 in a weekend sweep.
The Wildcats are on a 14-game winning streak, are undefeated on the road, lead the nation in home runs (1.97 per game), rank sixth in batting average (.344) and rank seventh in earned run average (1.57).
"We're facing one of the top teams in the country so being able to learn how to hit that high level of pitching, we take it how it is," Dowdle said. "They're the same age as us. They've been playing the same amount of time. We have to attack the game and be aggressive."
There is even familiarity with Olson playing at Tucson Ironwood Ridge High School with UA freshman Izzy Pacho. Sophomores Christine Bellavia, of GCU, and Carli Campbell, of UA, also were high school teammate sat Tucson Canyon del Oro.
The Lopes have proven their ability to contend on an elite level when they snapped defending national champion Florida State's 28-game winning streak at GCU Softball Stadium last month and lost 1-0 at No. 3 Oklahoma. UA's last defeats came when it lost two of three games against Florida State in March, when it also lost 2-1 to Oklahoma.
"We have everything to gain in these situations," Dowdle said. "That's when I think we play our best."
UA features the nation's leader in home runs (junior shortstop Jessie Harper with 21) and 11th-leading hitter (junior second baseman Reyna Carranco at .460) but the Lopes have a .400 hitter in senior shortstop Shea Smith and a pitching staff whose ERA (2.26) ranks 35th in the nation.
And with Bellavia, Dowdle, Olson, Brianna Aguilar and Lexy Coons from Tucson, Kelsey Hawkins from Marana and Jordon Keeton from Casa Grande, the Lopes have more Southern Arizonans than any team to understand the opportunity of playing Arizona in a Friday evening doubleheader and a Fox Sports Arizona broadcast Saturday. The 1 p.m. Saturday game is part of Fox Sports Arizona's "Baseball Day Arizona," 24 hours of in-state baseball/softball programming.
"It's definitely going to be a really great experience," Olson said. "We're going out there to win. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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