Late homer foils Denhart gem

Thursday, May 9

Phoenix, Ariz.

1:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

31-23

New Mexico State

32-20

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

5/9/2019 4:00:00 PM | Softball

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GCU to play elimination game on Thursday night

By: Josh Hauser

A tightly contested pitcher's duel was on tap when the participants of last year's WAC championship round reunited on Thursday afternoon at GCU Softball Stadium.

Seven innings of GCU sophomore Ryan Denhart and New Mexico State junior Samaria Diaz yielded six combined hits and no runs, sending the WAC Tournament second-round game to extra innings at GCU Softball Stadium.

Aggies senior first baseman Kelsey Horton swiftly ended the game in the eighth inning with a no-doubt home run to left field that narrowly stayed fair and glanced off the foul pole. For Horton, it was her 14th homer of the season and WAC-record 68th of her career.

The loss sends GCU (31-23) into an elimination game against fourth-seeded Utah Valley at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at GCU Softball Stadium.

Denhart shrugged off a rough outing against New Mexico State on April 20 to bounce back with a gem. After tying her season high by allowing four earned runs in five innings in Las Cruces, Denhart kept the Aggies (32-20) scoreless through seven frames and struck out six batters.

Any run would have made the difference for GCU, but Diaz matched Denhart stride for stride.

The Lopes had leadoff runners on in the second, third and fifth innings, but struggled to advance runners. Wednesday-night hero Savannah Tourville drew a walk to begin the second but was stranded at second base after a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore catcher Kaileigh Holland opened the third with the Lopes' first base hit but was the victim of a fielder's choice and that was followed by a double play. Senior left fielder Maddie Dowdle reached second after a two-base error on a dropped fly ball, but a strikeout and two fly outs diffused the GCU fifth.

Horton nearly gave the Aggies the lead in the third, but GCU right fielder Loriann Olson robbed Horton of the homer at the top of the outfield wall to keep the scoreless tie intact.

Horton got the final say, however, homering to left on the third pitch of the eighth inning to send New Mexico State into a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Seattle U at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

Both teams were limited to four hits apiece with leadoff batter Shea Smith pacing the Lopes with two hits.

GCU has a short turnaround to shake off the narrow defeat. The Lopes face Utah Valley, who was the victim of a late five-run Kansas City rally to blow a lead on the tournament's opening day. GCU swept Utah Valley in the opening weekend of WAC play at GCU Softball Stadium in late March.