Lopes take on Redhawks to open WAC Tournament


Grand Canyon Lopes (19-28, 8-9 WAC)	at	Seattle Redhawks (26-19, 12-5 WAC)
	WAC Tournament Thursday: 7 p.m.
Game notes (PDF)		Live video Live stats

Grand Canyon faces host Seattle U in Thursday's opening round of the WAC Tournament at 7 p.m. at Francis F. Logan Field. The Lopes and Redhawks met five days ago when GCU avoided the sweep by defeating Seattle and securing the third seed, as well as spoiling the Redhawks' opportunity to be regular-season champions and the No. 1 seed.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

7 ALL-WAC HONOREES: GCU earned seven All-WAC honorees. Outfielders Kristin Fifield and Gianna Nicoletti were named to the All-WAC first team. Right-handed pitcher Ryan Denhart earned a spot on the second team for the second year in a row. The Lopes landed four honorable mentions: Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage, Lilly Bishop, Jacie Hambrick and Savannah Tourville.
SECOND IN THE WAC: The Lopes pitchers rank second in the WAC in ERA at 3.56. Freshman right-handed pitcher Jacie Hambrick and senior Lexy Coons are tied in third for ERA in the WAC at 2.78.
PITCHER'S DUEL: Seattle U claims the top three pitchers statistically in the WAC. Carley Nance has the lowest conference ERA (1.99) with Shi Smith in second (2.19) and Stefanie Madrigal in third (2.78).

SCOUTING
The Redhawks come into the postseason as No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament. Seattle U collected seven All-WAC honorees. Five players were placed on the first team: Ally Choate, Stefanie Madrigal, Cherise Silvan, Shi Smith and Bailey Thompson. They added two more on the All-WAC second team: Carley Nance and Olivia Viggiano. Seattle is the only team in the conference to have won at least two of three games in every conference series this season. The Redhawks have the best all-around pitching staff in WAC play with conference bests for ERA (2.32) and strikeouts (88). At the plate, Seattle ranks second in WAC play for batting average (.322). In the circle, Redhawks pitchers take the top three in ERA for WAC play. Nance is first (1.99), Smith is second (2.19) and Madrigal is third (2.78). Smith, a senior, has totaled the most innings for the Redhawks with 108 2/3 and Madrigal, a sophomore, is close behind with 104 1/3 innings. Choate, a senior, also ranks second in WAC batting average (.441) and is tied for first in hits (26). She also leads the Redhawks in batting average for the season (.386). Thompson, a catcher, is second in batting average (.346) for Seattle and leads the team in home runs (eight), RBIs (42) and slugging percentage (.638). On the bases, Silvan and Viggiano are the biggest threats. Silvan is 14 for 17 and Viggiano is 12 for 17 on the season. Behind the plate, Thompson has allowed 29 runners to steal while throwing out three runners. She has three passed balls and a .993 fielding percentage.

LAST TIME OUT
The Lopes dropped the series to the Redhawks 2-1. GCU took the final game on Senior Day, when senior Lexy Coons threw her fourth complete game of the season.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes will play at 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. on Friday, depending on the outcome of their game with Seattle. No. 1 seed New Mexico State and No. 4 seed Utah Valley are playing in the other WAC Tournament game before GCU and Seattle meet on Thursday.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Anjolee Aguilar-Beaucage

Lilly Bishop

Lexy Coons

Ryan Denhart

Kristin Fifield

Jacie Hambrick

Gianna Nicoletti

Savannah Tourville

Grand Canyon University Athletics