Lopes leap levels as WAC tourney champs

Saturday, May 14

Huntsville, Texas

2:06 p.m.

Grand Canyon

39-14

Stephen F. Austin

31-24

S.F. Austin State

Grand Canyon

5/14/2022 6:09:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU punches NCAA tournament ticket for 1st time

By: Paul Coro

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Grand Canyon softball team that came together in celebration Saturday as the program's first WAC Tournament champion and first NCAA tournament qualifier just came together last summer.

But for having an all-new coaching staff and a mostly new roster, the Lopes won like a team that had been together for seasons with the resiliency to withstand a Saturday afternoon loss and a Saturday evening 3-0 deficit and defeat Stephen F. Austin 6-4 for the tournament title and NCAA regional ticket.

WAC Tournament trophy

Eight GCU starters reached base and the other laid down a key sacrifice bunt amid the Lopes' rally of five unanswered runs. GCU junior ace Ariel Thompson won WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player for two shutout wins and a championship save, but sophomore pitcher Jacie Hambrick saved the day by holding SFA scoreless for three innings while GCU rallied in the championship game.

With SFA having the tying run at the plate for its last six outs, the Lopes turned a championship-clinching double play to put an exclamation point on a program turnaround from 19-30 with an 0-2 WAC Tournament last year to 39-14 with a WAC Tournament title this year.

"What has made us be what we are now is the group effort that we've had," said Shanon Hays, who won WAC Coach of the Year in his first Lopes season. "We have girls who don't play that great and other girls pick them up and vice-versa all the way through.

"It's a fun team to coach because you never know who's going to step up."

After Thompson started the first three tournament games, sophomore pitcher Kaila Eastburn started the winner-take-all game and yielded a Lady Jacks three-run home run before getting out of the first inning with three strikeouts.

Jacie Hambrick

The first Lopes player to step up was Hambrick, who shut out SFA for the second, third and fourth innings by stranding five runners. The Prescott Valley, Arizona, native threw 7 1/3 shutout innings in the tournament.

"I wanted to enjoy the moment because I had nothing to lose," Hambrick said. "The first outing built confidence into the second game. I knew what to do to get them out. And this team bonds so good. Coach Hays pushes us to where we are, and all the experiences we've had built to this moment."

WAC Pitcher of the Year Kassidy Wilbur threw every inning of four tournament games to get SFA into the championship game, which she entered in the third inning after GCU junior second baseman Macee Barnes' leadoff single. But after barely beating Wilbur 1-0 on Friday and losing the first game 4-2 to her on Saturday, the Lopes scored more runs off her in four championship game innings (five) than she had allowed in her 27 innings of her four previous starts (three).

"I'm glad it doesn't faze them to be down 3-0 because it fazes me," Hays said.

In a theme of striking on the first pitch, GCU sophomore shortstop Katelyn Dunckel shook off an 0-for-4 first game to knock in the first run with a two-out single to left field in the third. Graduate first baseman Denae Chatman collected her first hit of the series with another two-out RBI single that tightened the Lady Jacks' lead to 3-2.

It was Dunckel again an inning later, delivering another first-pitch, two-out clutch hit with a two-run single for a 5-3 lead. GCU just had tied the game on a bases-loaded walk by junior Hannah Burnett when Wilbur passed the 500-pitch mark for the tournament.

The inning included four Lopes reaching base on the first pitch, including senior left fielder Gianna Nicoletti getting hit by a pitch and having to leave the game hurt after scoring on Dunckel's hit.

"We talked about grit and chipping away at her, getting hits and stringing them along," Dunckel said. "That really helped us believe in each other and trust the girl in the box and who's pitching.

"I was discouraged from the first game, but I said, 'She's not going to beat me.' I was just going to put my head down and put a ball up the middle, and that's what I did."

SFA responded with a fifth-inning run and tried a safety squeeze to tie the game, but Thompson fielded the bunt and threw the runner out at home with junior catcher Kinsey Koeltzow's block and tag. Thompson also ended the game by starting a 1-4-3 double play.
Denae Chatman

"Ariel's been the defensive player of the series," Hays said. "She's so athletic and has an aggressive mindset to make plays."

Chatman opened the next inning with a full-count home run, lifting a low pitch over the right-center field wall for her 14th home run to share the team lead with junior Kristin Fifield.

"I worked hard all week trying to make adjustments and I was just glad to pull through when it mattered," Chatman said. "That first hit was a big sigh of relief and calmed a lot of the nerves. I went in so much more confident. I was swinging hard.

"It was such a big team effort. This is the only team I'd want to do this with. It's a good group of girls. We're so happy that we could turn the page for GCU softball and start a new legacy."

Burnett and Nicoletti joined Thompson on the All-WAC Tournament team, but there were many more Lopes stars.

Kristin Fifield

Koeltzow managed the staff and went 3 for 6 on Saturday, including a leadoff double to start the go-ahead, three-run fourth. Barnes went 2 for 3 in the title game and had the leaoff hit to start the two-run third inning. Fifield had a game-high three hits and a run-saving catch in right field. Senior third baseman Savannah Tourville played a fantastic series, reaching base five of 11 times.

The breakthrough moment and Division I-era record for wins in a season also reward GCU associate director of sports medicine J.J. Sayson, who has been the softball program's athletic trainer for nine years.

"The key is getting kids with a common goal," Hays said. "We're a faith-based program. These girls get along so well because they have a common background. It's fun to watch it work well. I've had a lot of special teams, but right now this is the most special because this is the moment I'm living in.

"I'm so thrilled for our girls and my assistants have been so instrumental in what we're doing and we're all on the same page. What also makes it special is (athletic administrators) Mark Wilty, Nick Ojea and Jamie Boggs and President (Brian) Mueller. They believed in me, hired me and gave me the reign to bring in a good ball club and get it going from the get-go. When you have leadership like that, it makes my job so much easier."

GCU will find out its NCAA regional destination at 4 p.m. Sunday during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN2.