Win lives up to 'Senior Day' billing

Saturday, May 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

19-28, 0

Seattle U

26-19, 0

Seattle

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Elizabeth Tinajero

5/8/2021 5:27:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

Box Score

In last home game, 5 GCU seniors lead 4-2 victory vs. Seattle U

By: Paul Coro

With the tying run on base, GCU senior pitcher Lexy Coons walked behind the circle, touched her fingertips to the dirt and tapped her right cleat behind her repeatedly before re-entering the circle for her 138th pitch of the day and her last at GCU Softball Stadium.

Coons delivered a pitch that was hit to deep center field, where Lopes sophomore Kristin Fifield tracked it down as Coons hopped up and down with her senior catcher, Kaylee Dietrich, and three others seniors racing to celebrate a 4-2 win against Seattle U on Saturday.

The title "Senior Day" held true because each GCU senior contributed to the regular season-ending win that denied the Lexy Coons

Redhawks a WAC championship. Dietrich, Christine Bellavia, Lilly Bishop and Kaileigh Holland went 6 for 12 collectively and Coons notched her 20th career win and her second complete game in her past three starts.

"As soon as it hit her (Fifield's) glove, I was so happy and then it hit me and I started crying," said Coons, the Tucson native who graduated with a 3.62 GPA in Biology. "Before the game when I was warming up, I was so nervous and freaking out. Our pitching coach, Mandy (Gardner), said, 'You know how to do this. Just play with all your heart.' So the whole game, I was going after it."

Coons was spotted a lead that she maintained with the help of her defense, including a diving catch by junior left fielder Gianna Nicoletti with two runners on base in the third inning, a bare-handed play by junior second baseman Savannah Tourville with two runners on base in the fifth inning, Dietrich wiping away a leadoff hit in the sixth by throwing her out trying to steal and Fifield chasing down a bloop to center to throw for a force out at third base in the seventh.

"I think the adrenalin hit," Coons said. "I was like, 'Just finish it. This is your last time on the field.' So I got my second wind. I've been in tougher situations, but this one meant a lot to me.

"GCU has been incredible. I don't know how to describe what it's meant to me. I've always dreamt of this and now it's here and over and it was so awesome."

The senior hitting was led by Bellavia, a fellow Tucson native whose dedication merited her first career start from head coach Ann Pierson. Bellavia's speed has served primarily as a pinch runner, but she went from one career hit to three after starting GCU's first two rallies Saturday. Bellavia delivered one-hit singles in her first two at bats, leading two-run innings in the first and third for a 4-1 lead.

"I just cannot stop smiling," said Bellavia, who graduated with a 3.92 GPA in Psychology and will finish her master's in October. "I know that I've practiced this for years and I know nothing better than to see ball, hit ball. It's fun to know I was able to bring so much energy off the bench. It's humbling to know that I was able to produce so well."

Senior Day

In their final career home at bats, Holland and Dietrich singled on consecutive pitches in the sixth inning of a game played with each senior's number painted on the field. Holland had the postgame honor of carrying the Drako, the stuffed blue dragon who goes to each week's star.

"I didn't even imagine this day coming," said Holland, the Phoenix native who graduated with a 3.69 GPA in Justice Studies. "Just yesterday, it felt like I was a freshman. These four years flew by, but I'm glad I did it with the girls on the team because the environment is amazing. We all had fun. We all produced. It was just a good ol' time.

"Laying it all out on the field for our last home game was an amazing feeling."

No senior has started more games than Dietrich, who made her 114th start on Saturday after winning the University's most prestigious honor, the Roland L. Beck Senior Scholar-Athlete Award, last month.

"We had the best energy of all season today," said Dietrich, a Phoenix product who graduated with a 3.65 GPA in Business Management. "Everybody had each other's backs and was happy for each other. It was going out with a bang.

"All the pressure was building up with two outs and two runners on base. The last out wasn't easy, but Fifield had her back. It was that victory moment when, as soon as we got it, everybody just lost it because we were so excited."

Bishop was the only senior who had not spent four years in the program, but her impact was like she had spent a career in purple. Bishop started 107 games in three seasons and went 2 for 3 Saturday, putting her at .287 with 23 RBIs for the season.

"It was literally a perfect Senior Day," said Bishop, who graduated with a 3.76 GPA in Psychology after spending her last three years with GCU. "It's everything that I could ask for as a senior. We all produced and worked for each other.

"It's felt like I've been here since my freshman year. It doesn't even feel like I was a transfer. Being here has shown me a lot. Ann really has harped on me on the field, but she has made me a better person and ready for adult life after this. It's just family over here and I love it here."

This season, which included Pierson's 500th career win, is not over. The Lopes (19-28, 8-9 WAC) will be the No. 3 seed for the WAC Tournament in Seattle, where they will get a rematch with the host for their 7 p.m. opener on Thursday.

"I'm really proud of them for a very gritty win," Pierson said. "This is an outstanding senior class. They're going to be missed. They brought a lot to the program, not just from a performance standpoint, but in the classroom and in the community and on the campus. They've all been a big presence and we're going to miss them, but I'm praying we have a lot left.

"We just have to stay with our plan. When we do that, we're a really tough team to beat. When they trust their preparation and hard work, I like their chances of winning."