Lopes to co-host GCU/ASU Classic


Grand Canyon Lopes (16-5)	vs.	BYU Cougars (13-4)	Rutgers Scarlet Knights (13-7)
		Friday, March 11 2:30 p.m.	Friday, March 11 5 p.m.
Game notes		Live video Live stats	Live video Live stats

The Grand Canyon softball team hosts BYU and Rutgers on Friday to open the GCU/ASU Classic before closing out the tournament with Ball State on Saturday.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

LAST WEEKEND BEFORE WAC PLAY: The Lopes host their final tournament before beginning WAC play.
RPI RANKING: GCU comes into Wednesday at No. 67 in NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) after four weeks of play. The Lopes have the best RPI in the WAC with Seattle U coming in at No. 82 and California Baptist at No. 97.
CO-HOSTING TOURNAMENT: The Lopes are co-hosting the GCU/ASU Classic and will take on BYU, Rutgers and Ball State over Friday and Saturday.

SCOUTING

BYU comes into the GCU/ASU Classic with the best record of any opponent the Lopes will compete against at 13-4. The Cougars were the defending WCC champions and picked to win the WCC in the 2022 season. The Cougars had six players make the All-WCC Preseason softball team: Huntyr Ava, Marissa Chavez, Martha Epenesa, HannahJo Mills, Violet Zavodnik, and Autumn Moffat-Korth. The Cougars and Lopes have only played one common opponent. BYU took down San Jose State 8-5 while the Lopes fell 1-11 to the Spartans. BYU however has played two WAC schools, Seattle who they beat 5-2 and CBU who they lost to 3-6.

As a team BYU is hitting .274, slugging .440, and has an on base of .386. The Cougars have totaled 85 runs on 110 hits including 18 doubles, two triples, and 15 homeruns. In the circle the Cougars are posting a 2.36 ERA in 104 innings. The have given up 91 hits, 46 runs, 35 earned runs, and struck out 87.

The Cougars ace in the circle is Autumn Moffat-Korth as she has made eight starts and 11 appearances on the rubber. She has logged the most innings at 49.1 and has an ERA of 2.41 with a 4-3 record. The senior has given up 43 hits, 25 runs, 17 earned runs, three doubles, six homeruns, and fanned 32 batters. Chloe Temples has a team best ERA 1.48 with a 4-1 record. She has made four starts and appeared in eight games on the rubber. The junior has thrown 28.1 innings and given up 19 hits, six runs and six earned runs.

Huntyr Ava is the Cougars top hitter with a .340 batting average and .681 slugging percentage. In 16 games she has totaled 47 at bats with 16 hits, eight runs, and 17 RBIs. The junior first baseman is tied at first for homeruns with five. Macy Simmons and Violet Zavodnik are tied for second in average hitting .326 and total hits (15). Simmons has totaled 17 RBIs and five homeruns while Zavodnik has a team best five doubles and 14 runs scored.

Rutgers has already won more games this season than they did all last year as they have a 13-7 record in 2022. The Scarlet Knights won their first game of the season against WAC opponent Lamar in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on opening weekend. Rutgers and GCU have played one common opponent this season in Colgate. The Scarlet Knights defeated the Raiders both times they played them, and the Lopes also took down Colgate in their meeting.

As a team the Scarlet Knights are hitting .265 with a slugging of .369 and an on base of .344. They have totaled 84 runs, 132 hits, 22 doubles, six triples and six homeruns. On the base paths they are 23-29. In the circle Rutgers' three-man staff has a 3.27 ERA with 132.2 innings pitched. They have given up 114 hits, 81 runs, 62 earned runs, 29 doubles, 16 homeruns, and two triples. 125 batters have struck out against the staff.

In the circle Jaden Vickers is the Scarlet Knights ace as she has logged the lost innings at 66.0 and has the best record of 8-2. The junior has made 11 starts and appeared in 14 games throwing 4 complete games and two shutouts. She has an ERA of 2.65 allowing 48 hits, 29 runs, 25 earned and struck out 78 batters. Ashley Hitchcock has a 5-5 record on the rubber with a 3.64 ERA. She has made nine starts and appeared in 14 games while logging 57.2 innings. The junior has tossed 57.2 innings and thrown five complete games, one shutout and recorded two saves. Graduate student Gabrielle Callaway has started and played in all 20 games for the Scarlet Knights and is hitting a team best .333 while slugging .524 and an on base of .352. The utility player has totaled 21 hits, four doubles, one triple, and two homeruns as well as bringing in 15 RBIs. Kyleigh Sand is second in average for Rutgers with a .328 average. She has totaled 21 hits, four doubles, one triple and scored 18 runs. The shortstop has a team best nine stole bases out of 11.

Ball State comes to Phoenix with a 5-10 record after playing in three tournaments this season. The Cardinals and Lopes have not played a common opponent yet this season. However, the Cardinals played WAC opponent Seattle in a 7-5 loss on opening weekend. The Cardinals had their best weekend at the Winthrop Eagle Invitational, where they went 3-2 defeating Winthrop, Western Carolina and Towson. Ball State was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference behind Miami and Kent State.

Ball State is hitting .270 in 14 games with a slugging percentage of .430 and an on-base percentage of .331. The Cardinals totaled 100 hits with 15 doubles, one triple and 14 home runs. On the base paths, they are 15 for 23 on stolen bases. In the circle, the Cardinals have a combined 4.49 ERA with 90.1 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .277 against them. The staff has given up 101 hits, including 19 doubles, one triple and five home runs. The have allowed 86 runs and 58 earned runs while striking out 73 batters.

Senior outfielder Faith Hensley is the Cardinals top hitter as she is first in almost every offensive category. She leads the team in batting average (.439), slugging percentage (.829) and on-base percentage (.540). She has a team-best 18 hits, 11 RBIs, and five home runs. Three other Cardinals have started all 14 games (Haley Wynn, Kayla Lissy, and Amaia Daniel). Wynn is second in batting average (.362), hits (17) and doubles (three). Lissy is third in batting average with a .326 and .340 on-base percentage. She has also stolen five bases. Daniel has totaled 10 hits with eight RBIs and one home run.

In the circle, Deborah Jones has logged the most innings (34.1) and had the best ERA (2.24). The junior has a 1-3 record with two complete games. She has given up 30 hits, 18 runs, 11 earned runs and two home runs. She has a team-best 37 strikeouts and .227 batting average against. Angelina Russo and Madison Taylor have both tossed at least 20 innings. Russo has a 5.47 ERA while Taylor has a 7.00.

LAST TIME OUT
The Lopes took down Ball State 5-2 on Wednesday night at GCU Softball Stadium.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Lopes will hit the road for the first time in their WAC-opening series on March 18-19 at New Mexico State.

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