Upcoming Event: Softball versus Embry-Riddle on October 8, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Softball
7 p.m.
vs Embry-Riddle
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, March 19
Las Cruces, N.M.
1 p.m.
Grand Canyon
18-8, 1-1
13
at
4
New Mexico State
6-16, 1-1
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
7
1
2
0
3
13
11
5
NM State
4
0
0
0
0
4
4
1
GCU racks up 34 runs in 2 wins at NMSU
3/19/2022 6:42:00 PM | Softball
Lopes take series in Las Cruces for 1st time since 2017
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Grand Canyon softball team gave an emphatic response to losing Friday's conference opener by hitting .481 in two Saturday mercy-rule wins to take the series at New Mexico State for the first time since 2017.
The Lopes (19-8, 2-1 WAC) hammered the Aggies 13-4 and 21-3 in a pair of five-inning games that included six GCU home runs. GCU lost the Friday night opener 8-7 on a two-out, walk-off error but came back Saturday with senior left fielder Gianna Nicoletti and graduate first baseman Deane Chatman each delivering five hits in the pair of wins.
Nicoletti went 7 for 9 in the series with four walks and three steals while Chatman and junior catcher Kinsey Koeltzow each went 5 for 9 and junior right fielder Kristin Fifield hit two home runs and knocked in eight runs.
"We bounced back well," GCU head coach Shanon Hays said. "Ariel (Thompson) and Jacie (Hambrick) steadied the ship against a good hitting ball club. Gianna was crazy good and pretty much everybody swung the bats. We set out to win the series, so that was good."
The Lopes committed two first-inning errors to allow the Aggies back into the game with four unearned runs, but junior starting pitcher Ariel Thompson (9-2) shut out New Mexico State over the final four innings and struck out six Aggies in five innings.
Chatman led off the second inning with her ninth home run of the season and added an RBI single in the third, which was followed by a Koeltzow RBI single for a 10-4 lead.
In the fifth, GCU finished off a run-rule win when Koeltzow doubled and scored before a two-run home run from Fifield, a native of nearby El Paso, Texas.
The tone was set when Nicoletti singled and circled the bases before Dunckel finished her following at bat. Nicoletti stole two bases and scored on a throwing error to start GCU's four-run first inning on five singles.
New Mexico State could not keep pace, falling behind 11-1 when the Lopes had their second seven-run inning of the day in the second. Barnes and Fifield each homered in the inning, with Barnes smashing a no-doubt shot before Fifield went the opposite way for her seventh home run of the season.
Nicoletti again singled and worked her way around the bases before Dunckel reached base in the third, when GCU made it a 14-1 lead with Reed knocking a two-run home run to center.
After the Aggies scored twice to make the lead 14-3, the Lopes kept running away with it when Dunckel delivered a high-arching, three-run home run to the GCU flag in left field.
The Lopes finished off a 42-run series (in 17 innings of play) with a four-run fifth inning off only two hits, one of which was a RBI double from Fifield to cap her 3-for-6, 7-RBI day.
The Lopes (19-8, 2-1 WAC) hammered the Aggies 13-4 and 21-3 in a pair of five-inning games that included six GCU home runs. GCU lost the Friday night opener 8-7 on a two-out, walk-off error but came back Saturday with senior left fielder Gianna Nicoletti and graduate first baseman Deane Chatman each delivering five hits in the pair of wins.
Nicoletti went 7 for 9 in the series with four walks and three steals while Chatman and junior catcher Kinsey Koeltzow each went 5 for 9 and junior right fielder Kristin Fifield hit two home runs and knocked in eight runs.
"We bounced back well," GCU head coach Shanon Hays said. "Ariel (Thompson) and Jacie (Hambrick) steadied the ship against a good hitting ball club. Gianna was crazy good and pretty much everybody swung the bats. We set out to win the series, so that was good."
Lopes open with 7-run 1st
GCU never trailed in Saturday's opening game once it scored seven first-inning runs on three this, three walks and three hit batsman. Nicoletti started the offensive binge with a leadoff single up the middle and ended it when the Lopes batted around and she hit a two-run infield single for a 7-0 lead.The Lopes committed two first-inning errors to allow the Aggies back into the game with four unearned runs, but junior starting pitcher Ariel Thompson (9-2) shut out New Mexico State over the final four innings and struck out six Aggies in five innings.
Chatman led off the second inning with her ninth home run of the season and added an RBI single in the third, which was followed by a Koeltzow RBI single for a 10-4 lead.
In the fifth, GCU finished off a run-rule win when Koeltzow doubled and scored before a two-run home run from Fifield, a native of nearby El Paso, Texas.
GCU bats get bigger in 21-3 finale
If 13 runs in five innings were not enough, GCU capped the doubleheader with a 21-3 win at New Mexico State that included home runs from four Lopes.The tone was set when Nicoletti singled and circled the bases before Dunckel finished her following at bat. Nicoletti stole two bases and scored on a throwing error to start GCU's four-run first inning on five singles.
New Mexico State could not keep pace, falling behind 11-1 when the Lopes had their second seven-run inning of the day in the second. Barnes and Fifield each homered in the inning, with Barnes smashing a no-doubt shot before Fifield went the opposite way for her seventh home run of the season.
Nicoletti again singled and worked her way around the bases before Dunckel reached base in the third, when GCU made it a 14-1 lead with Reed knocking a two-run home run to center.
After the Aggies scored twice to make the lead 14-3, the Lopes kept running away with it when Dunckel delivered a high-arching, three-run home run to the GCU flag in left field.
The Lopes finished off a 42-run series (in 17 innings of play) with a four-run fifth inning off only two hits, one of which was a RBI double from Fifield to cap her 3-for-6, 7-RBI day.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Thompson, Ariel (9-2)
L: Patane, Laurali (9-2)
Batting:
2B: Dunckel, Katelyn 1
HR: Chatman, Denae 1 ; Fifield, Kristin 1
RBI: Nicoletti, Gianna 1 ; Chatman, Denae 2 ; Koeltzow, Kinsey 2 ; Fifield, Kristin 3 ; Aguilar-Beaucage, Anjolee 1 ; Tourville, Savannah 1 ; Barnes, Macee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nicoletti, Gianna 2 ; Dunckel, Katelyn 2 ; Chatman, Denae 2 ; Koeltzow, Kinsey 2 ; Fifield, Kristin 2 ; Aguilar-Beaucage, Anjolee 1 ; Tourville, Savannah 1 ; Barnes, Macee 1
SB: Burnett, Hannah 1
CS: Reed, Stephanie 1
HBP: Reed, Stephanie 1 ; Chatman, Denae 1 ; Fifield, Kristin 1 ; Aguilar-Beaucage, Anjolee 1 ; Tourville, Savannah 1
Batting:
RBI: Bowen, Kayla 1 ; Burton, Jayleen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lopez, Ramsay 1 ; Taylor, Jillian 1 ; Martinez, Maya 1 ; Bowen, Kayla 1
CS: Taylor, Jillian 1
HBP: Ofoia, Melika 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
2
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