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
Friday, May 20
Los Angeles, Calif.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
UCLA
Best NCAA tourney win bump belongs to GCU
5/19/2022 4:00:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro
New coach, revamped roster, key returnees led to 20-win increase
LOS ANGELES – College softball's greatest turnaround in the NCAA tournament field began its path last June with no idea of the destination.
With first-year head coach Shanon Hays, six core returnees and 15 newcomers, Grand Canyon trusted the process and enjoyed the ride before coming out on the other side 10 months later with the program's first NCAA Division I tournament bid.
GCU made a stunning 20-win improvement, the greatest among this season's NCAA tournament teams and tied for the fourth largest in the nation. If it sounds familiar with Hays, it is because he also took Texas Tech to the tournament in his first year on that job with a 23-win bump.
The Lopes have the daunting task of a Friday night game against UCLA, a regional host with the No. 5 seed, 20 shutouts this season and a record 13 national championships. But when they face the Bruins at 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) on ESPN2, the challenge would not be more unfathomable than being a 39-14 WAC champion after going 19-30 and 7-20 in the previous two seasons.
"It started with the plan to get things going the right way and (GCU Vice President of Athletics) Jamie Boggs knowing I've had experience in getting programs going and our administration wanting to kick-start our program,," said Hays, who has a 507-194-5 college softball coaching record in addition to his 58-26 mark as the Abilene Christian men's basketball head coach. "They allowed me to bring in players like Denae Chatman (from Arizona State) and Stephanie Reed (from Utah State), who was the first one, and Kinsey Koeltzow (from Oklahoma), who was the start of those dominoes falling.
"Just as important was the returners were all in from the get-go. They were bought in. It shows you what kind of kids they are. We had leadership there because I inherited all-conference kids."
That returning group had been successful individually but flourished more this season. Graduate left fielder Gianna Nicoletti hit a career-high .406 and ranks second in the nation with 51 stolen bases, 23 more than she had last season. Junior right fielder Kristin Fifield changed from being a slap hitter to a power hitter and still improved her batting average to .359 while doubling her home run high with 14 this season.
Chatman hit .361 with 14 home runs. A pair of small-school transfers, sophomore Katelyn Dunckel (.403) and junior Hannah Burnett (.355), stepped into Division I as top hitters. Koetlzow, a junior catcher, formed the WAC's best batter with North Texas transfer Ariel Thompson, a junior who is one of 31 pitchers in the nation with 21 wins.
"The girls who came in came with an expectation of flipping this program and not just to come here, have fun and go through the motions," said Koeltzow, who was on last season's national championship team at Oklahoma. "We came to flip it and have everybody look at us, like, 'Oh, man, what happened there?'
"We trust each other and Coach Hays. I believe the Lord brought us all here with so many different gifts and talents and meshed us so well. The upperclassmen stepped in with great leadership. It's rare to bring that many girls with that many different places and backgrounds, but with the same goal of winning and having fun."
It was not all smooth sailing. GCU had a 2-5 stretch that culminated with three consecutive losses in early March before realigning its pitching and perspective. Since then, the Lopes are 22-6.
"It wasn't great in the moment, but that pushed us to challenge each other more and grow more and build on what we have," Koeltzow said.
Koeltzow knows how much confidence her teammates need to maintain at this level, but Hays has been relaying a message of "bonus softball" this week.
"It's a no-lose situation to go in and compete and represent Grand Canyon," Hays said. "They're resolute in their approach to that."
With first-year head coach Shanon Hays, six core returnees and 15 newcomers, Grand Canyon trusted the process and enjoyed the ride before coming out on the other side 10 months later with the program's first NCAA Division I tournament bid.
GCU made a stunning 20-win improvement, the greatest among this season's NCAA tournament teams and tied for the fourth largest in the nation. If it sounds familiar with Hays, it is because he also took Texas Tech to the tournament in his first year on that job with a 23-win bump.The Lopes have the daunting task of a Friday night game against UCLA, a regional host with the No. 5 seed, 20 shutouts this season and a record 13 national championships. But when they face the Bruins at 7 p.m. (Phoenix time) on ESPN2, the challenge would not be more unfathomable than being a 39-14 WAC champion after going 19-30 and 7-20 in the previous two seasons.
"It started with the plan to get things going the right way and (GCU Vice President of Athletics) Jamie Boggs knowing I've had experience in getting programs going and our administration wanting to kick-start our program,," said Hays, who has a 507-194-5 college softball coaching record in addition to his 58-26 mark as the Abilene Christian men's basketball head coach. "They allowed me to bring in players like Denae Chatman (from Arizona State) and Stephanie Reed (from Utah State), who was the first one, and Kinsey Koeltzow (from Oklahoma), who was the start of those dominoes falling.
"Just as important was the returners were all in from the get-go. They were bought in. It shows you what kind of kids they are. We had leadership there because I inherited all-conference kids."
That returning group had been successful individually but flourished more this season. Graduate left fielder Gianna Nicoletti hit a career-high .406 and ranks second in the nation with 51 stolen bases, 23 more than she had last season. Junior right fielder Kristin Fifield changed from being a slap hitter to a power hitter and still improved her batting average to .359 while doubling her home run high with 14 this season.
Chatman hit .361 with 14 home runs. A pair of small-school transfers, sophomore Katelyn Dunckel (.403) and junior Hannah Burnett (.355), stepped into Division I as top hitters. Koetlzow, a junior catcher, formed the WAC's best batter with North Texas transfer Ariel Thompson, a junior who is one of 31 pitchers in the nation with 21 wins."The girls who came in came with an expectation of flipping this program and not just to come here, have fun and go through the motions," said Koeltzow, who was on last season's national championship team at Oklahoma. "We came to flip it and have everybody look at us, like, 'Oh, man, what happened there?'
"We trust each other and Coach Hays. I believe the Lord brought us all here with so many different gifts and talents and meshed us so well. The upperclassmen stepped in with great leadership. It's rare to bring that many girls with that many different places and backgrounds, but with the same goal of winning and having fun."
It was not all smooth sailing. GCU had a 2-5 stretch that culminated with three consecutive losses in early March before realigning its pitching and perspective. Since then, the Lopes are 22-6.
"It wasn't great in the moment, but that pushed us to challenge each other more and grow more and build on what we have," Koeltzow said.
Koeltzow knows how much confidence her teammates need to maintain at this level, but Hays has been relaying a message of "bonus softball" this week.
"It's a no-lose situation to go in and compete and represent Grand Canyon," Hays said. "They're resolute in their approach to that."
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
C/INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/UTL
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