Upcoming Event: Softball versus Pima CC on September 30, 2025 at 6 p.m.
Softball
6 p.m.
vs Pima CC
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, May 20
Los Angeles, Calif.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
39-15
1
at
12
UCLA
44-8
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Grand Canyon
0
0
0
0
1
1
3
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UCLA
0
5
4
3
X
12
7
0
UCLA spoils GCU's debut; Lopes face Ole Miss
5/20/2022 10:13:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro
Lopes walk 10, avoid season's 1st shutout with Barnes RBI double
LOS ANGELES – Before the Easton Stadium scoreboard ever said so, the outfield wall announced the dichotomy involved in the NCAA tournament meeting between Grand Canyon and UCLA.
The Bruins, a national No. 5 seed, display 13 national championships across a sky blue and gold wall and it swallowed up the Lopes, who made their NCAA Division I tournament debut on Friday night as part of regional host UCLA's 23rd consecutive appearance.
The Bruins, who have four home losses since 2020, loaded the bases in each of the first three innings with the help of bases on balls. GCU avoided damage in the first inning with defensive gems, but UCLA scored nine runs in the second and third innings en route to a 12-1 run-rule win in five innings.
The Lopes (39-15) threw nine of their season-high 10 walks in the first three innings but will get a chance to bounce back in a 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) Saturday elimination game. GCU will face Ole Miss (39-18), which lost 4-2 to Loyola Marymount earlier Friday night, with the winner playing again at 7 p.m. against LMU (37-16).
Lopes junior starting pitcher Ariel Thompson did not allow a hit until UCLA third baseman Delanie Wisz ripped her 13th home run of the season for a two-out grand slam and 5-0 lead in the second inning. Thompson had loaded the bases on walks, with two coming on full counts, and recorded a second out when UCLA took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly.
"Ten walks and a hit by a pitch, we didn't give ourselves a chance to stay in the game," GCU head coach Shanon Hays said. "I was surprised with Ariel having six walks. She's been money most of the time for us this year, but we didn't pitch it well. And if you don't pitch it well against a great team like UCLA, you get what you get.
"It's disappointing because we feel like we have a ball club offensively that can do some things if we stay in the game. But we never had a chance to put pressure on UCLA because we got behind so early."
GCU put a threat together in the third inning, when senior third baseman Savannah Tourville was hit by a pitch and graduate left fielder Gianna Nicoletti reached on a slap single before both runners were stranded.
Nicoletti is a native of nearby Fullerton and her father, John, is a UCLA graduate, but she had not been to Easton Stadium until this week.
"It was really cool to play on such a historic field with so much history," Nicoletti said. "I have a girl I played against in high school, (UCLA left fielder) Kelly Godin, so it kind of felt like, 'OK, we're back to where we were at one point.' "
GCU sophomore right-hander Jacie Hambrick relieved Thompson but also loaded the bases with three two-out walks, leading to a pair of two-run Bruins hits for a 9-0 lead in the third inning.
The Lopes fell behind 12-0 with senior pitcher Ryan Denhart in the circle, but avoided taking its first shutout of the season in the fifth inning. After junior catcher Kinsey Koeltzow's leadoff line drive was caught at third base, senior center fielder Stephanie Reed smashed a double off the left-field wall before junior second baseman Macee Barnes knocked another double off the left-field wall to score Reed.
"It helps our confidence obviously, but we're a team offensively that doesn't have any confidence problems," said Hays, whose team entered Friday ranked 10th nationally for batting average (.330). "We feel like it's a matter of time usually before we get something going."
UCLA starter Holly Azevedo, who has a 1.17 ERA, averaged 8.6 strikeouts per seven innings this season but only recorded one strikeout against GCU. It came on Barnes, when she was not shown on the video board for her first at bat.
"The whole point of the video board is to show off my hair, so it was disappointing, but they put it up my second at bat and that's why I got the double," Barnes joked.
"Like Coach said, we're a pretty confident offensive team and we know what we're doing with our swing. That's provided by Coach Hays. We're going to come out tomorrow with pretty much the same approach we have every day and do our thing."
Ole Miss, Saturday's opponent, is making its sixth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and also is going for its 40th victory of the season. The 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) game will be shown on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Azevedo, Holly (18-2)
L: Thompson, Ariel (20-6)
Batting:
2B: Reed, Stephanie 1 ; Barnes, Macee 1
RBI: Barnes, Macee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Reed, Stephanie 1
HBP: Tourville, Savannah 1
Batting:
2B: Perez, Briana 1 ; Brady, Maya 1 ; Garcia, Alyssa 1 ; Malau'ulu, Thessa 1
HR: Wisz, Delanie 1
RBI: Washington, Kinsley 2 ; Perez, Briana 2 ; Wisz, Delanie 6 ; Garcia, Alyssa 1 ; Malau'ulu, Thessa 1
SF: Washington, Kinsley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Washington, Kinsley 1 ; Perez, Briana 2 ; Wisz, Delanie 1 ; Brady, Maya 1 ; Garcia, Alyssa 1 ; Hatch, Lauren 1 ; Malau'ulu, Thessa 1 ; Vines, Anna 2 ; Godin, Kelli 2
HBP: Perez, Briana 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
dp/3b
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P/UTL
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C/INF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P/UTL
/ Softball
INF
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