Stanford wins in 8; Denhart deals

Thursday, February 6

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

0-1

Stanford

1-0

Stanford

Grand Canyon

2/6/2020 9:33:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU junior pitcher allowed 2 hits until extra innings

By: Paul Coro

On an ordinary night, Grand Canyon junior pitcher Ryan Denhart's work would have ended after the seventh inning on Thursday night as a two-hit, complete-game shutout.

That sort of pitching excellence did not suffice against Stanford, a 2019 NCAA tournament team that pushed the Lopes to extra innings before winning the season opener 3-0 at GCU Softball Stadium.

The Lopes fell in eight innings but a performance like that bodes well for the rest of the GCU Kickoff Tournament this weekend and the rest of the season.

"You're never OK with a loss and the kids aren't OK with a loss but we saw a lot of great things," Lopes head coach Ann Pierson said. "Ryan threw a tremendous game. That's a very good-hitting team, a well-coached team and she kept their hitters off-balance and allowed our defense to make plays."

A GCU defense that starts four sophomores and a freshman did not have an error until the eighth inning, when the Lopes could not complete a force-out on a sacrifice bunt to allow the first of three Stanford runs to score. Until then, Denhart used her full arsenal to keep the Cardinal from having two baserunners in any of the first seven innings.

Stanford only managed third- and fifth-inning singles over the first seven innings, when Denhart struck out four batters and walked two. The WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year finished with 71 strikes on 119 pitches.

"It's a good opening day for us as a team, showing that we can fight against any team that we play or anyone has been to the tournament," Denhart said. "We held them scoreless for seven innings, played extra in an opening game. It's a great start. Like our coaches were telling us after the game, it's Game 1 of 56 that we play and it's only going to get better from here."

Denhart was backed by several fielding gems from her GCU defense. Sophomore center fielder Gianna Nicoletti made a diving catch in left-center field in the second inning. Sophomore shortstop Savannah Tourville handled tough plays at her new position seamlessly and junior catcher Kaileigh Holland was solid behind the plate for Denhart.

"It's great knowing that I can trust my defense no matter what happens," Denhart said. "Any ball that gets hit, I have faith in them. I trust each and every one of them. Without them, I wouldn't have done as well as I did."

GCU put together its best threat in the first inning, when it loaded the bases with two outs. Lopes junior designated player Lilly Bishop and Tourville walked consecutively after freshman left fielder Jaiden Reid singled in her first GCU at bat.

Sophomore right fielder Brooke Cantillo, also making her Lopes debut, led off the third inning with a single but was thrown out trying to reach third on a two-out single by Bishop.

GCU could not capitalize on a Tourville lead-off walk in the fourth or a one-out single by junior first baseman Kaylee Dietrich in the seventh.

"They're buying in," Pierson said. "They understand if we do the little things better than the other team, we're going to win games and that's what it came down to tonight. We had opportunities. I was pleased with them jumping on them right away. Aggressive bats, runners all over the bases. We've just got to find a way to push them across."

The season opener drew 858 fans with a good student turnout at GCU Softball Stadium, where the Lopes return on Saturday to face Weber State at 4:30 p.m. and Stanford at 6:30 p.m.

"The atmosphere was awesome," Pierson said. "The fans were unbelievable. The Havocs, we can keep telling that story because it's a good story and we appreciate it. The energy was really good."