Completed Event: Softball at San Diego State on April 17, 2026 , Win , 12, to, 3 , (5 inn.)
Softball
at San Diego State
W 12-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Fifield flips power switch, leads nation in RBIs
5/18/2023 5:30:00 AM | Softball, Paul Coro
Outfielder entered GCU as slapper but unleashed bigger bat with Hays' help
To flip on her power, Kristin Fifield just needed to hit a switch.
The nation's most productive softball hitter switched from slap hitting during fall 2021 practices, when then-new Grand Canyon head coach Shanon Hays unleashed a Fifield swing that developed her into a national RBI leader for the Lopes' back-to-back NCAA regional teams.
Fifield's 85 RBIs this season is 14 more than the next closest player in the nation and three away from an 11-year-old WAC single-season record. But the thriving threat nearly never came to be.
"Hey, Fife, you've got to forget that and straight hit," Hays told Fifield during his first fall workouts as GCU coach after Fifield used primarily slapping for .344 hitting over her first two years.
Fifield's efficiency remained in tact or .355 hitting in the past two seasons, when her bat began to boom with 35 of her GCU-record 44 career home runs and 140 of her career 185 RBIs.
When GCU (46-11) takes the field at 5 p.m. Friday at No. 2 UCLA in its second consecutive NCAA regional appearance, the slaps have turned into gaps and zaps for 18 doubles (10th nationally) and 21 home runs (fourth nationally) this season.
The power surge put Fifield in first nationally for RBIs most of the season, and the El Paso, Texas, native ran away with the lead when she knocked in 16 runs in the past six games.
"I see all the other hitters who are up there and it's crazy because I look up to them and watch them," Fifield said. "I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I want to be able to do what they do.' The fact that I've proven myself makes me tell myself, 'I can do it.' Instead of looking up to them, I am one of them now. It's an honor."
When Hays took over a program that had gone 26-50 in the previous two seasons, Fifield was one of five roster carryovers. Hays' brother, Daren, had seen Fifield during West Texas recruiting for his Lubbock Christian softball program and told him that slapping was not maximizing her talent and physical abilities.
As GCU coaches watched early results of her swing change, Hays told assistant coach Sandra Wente, "She could be big-bigtime."
"We just went to town on fixing what needed to be fixed," Fifield said of fall 2021 practices. "It definitely showed that what Hays is doing can work if you trust it. I miss slapping sometimes because it gives you a different look at putting the ball in play, but I love what I've been able to do as a hitter."
Fifield began playing softball at age 5 and was around the game constantly with an older sister, Kaitlin, who became UTEP's No. 3 all-time winning pitcher. Giving up instincts to cut the ball the opposite way was difficult, but the left-hander also had been giving up a powerful cut without using her strong hands to swing through the ball.
The adjustment was not instant, with Fifield only hitting .230 through 18 games last year. In the final 37 games, Fifield hit .415 with 10 home runs to help GCU to its first NCAA Division I regional appearance.
"It took a while to start retraining her swing and to get the slapper swing out of her, because she has such natural hands and power ability," Hays said. "She bought i
n, and she was willing to put in the work. It took time, but gradually she got confidence in what she was doing in and really staying in to hit instead of opening up."
Fifield trusted in Hays first and then built a trust in her new swing. Last season, she modeled the confidence of then-leadoff hitter Gianna Nicoletti, who hit .396 and stole a WAC-record 51 bases. This season, she kept ample opportunities by hitting behind senior center fielder Hannah Burnett, who ranks 21st nationally with .426 hitting and is 34 for 35 on stolen bases.
Fifield slumped briefly in early April, when Wente stopped her in batting practice one day and said, "Slap this next pitch for me."
It fed the urge and restored Fifield's confidence to make contact after seeing the ball to the bat better. Fifield turned torrid at the end of the regular season and during GCU's WAC Tournament championship repeat, going 13 for 24 (.542) with four home runs in the Lopes' last eight games. Her 85 RBIs already is tied for the 20th-highest, single-season total in Division I history.
GCU brings the nation's No. 5 scoring offense into a regional site where Fifield and most of the starting lineup went 0-2 in last year's regional debut.
"We feel like we're going to go in there with a chip on our shoulder because we felt like we should've been put somewhere else," Fifield said. "But we're super-excited to get after it, especially to go out and compete with UCLA because of their big name. But at the end of the day, it's just softball. This team has all the talent in the world to do it."
Because of the COVID waiver, Fifield will return for a fifth GCU season next year and move back to the infield, where she began her career under then-coach Ann Pierson.
She is ahead of pace on and off the field. Fifield graduated in Psychology in December and started a master's degree in Elementary Education this semester. Her 44 career home runs passed the 14-year-old GCU record, set before the Division I transition, by nine. She has come a long way from the homesick freshman who considered quitting after the first week on campus.
"I love each and every one of the girls and coaches," Fifield said. "They've done nothing but help motivate me and help me become the player I am today, so I couldn't be more grateful for that. The surroundings we have on campus are umatched. I'm so grateful that I was given this opportunity because freshman me would've never expected this."
The nation's most productive softball hitter switched from slap hitting during fall 2021 practices, when then-new Grand Canyon head coach Shanon Hays unleashed a Fifield swing that developed her into a national RBI leader for the Lopes' back-to-back NCAA regional teams.
Fifield's 85 RBIs this season is 14 more than the next closest player in the nation and three away from an 11-year-old WAC single-season record. But the thriving threat nearly never came to be."Hey, Fife, you've got to forget that and straight hit," Hays told Fifield during his first fall workouts as GCU coach after Fifield used primarily slapping for .344 hitting over her first two years.
Fifield's efficiency remained in tact or .355 hitting in the past two seasons, when her bat began to boom with 35 of her GCU-record 44 career home runs and 140 of her career 185 RBIs.
When GCU (46-11) takes the field at 5 p.m. Friday at No. 2 UCLA in its second consecutive NCAA regional appearance, the slaps have turned into gaps and zaps for 18 doubles (10th nationally) and 21 home runs (fourth nationally) this season.
The power surge put Fifield in first nationally for RBIs most of the season, and the El Paso, Texas, native ran away with the lead when she knocked in 16 runs in the past six games.
"I see all the other hitters who are up there and it's crazy because I look up to them and watch them," Fifield said. "I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I want to be able to do what they do.' The fact that I've proven myself makes me tell myself, 'I can do it.' Instead of looking up to them, I am one of them now. It's an honor."
When Hays took over a program that had gone 26-50 in the previous two seasons, Fifield was one of five roster carryovers. Hays' brother, Daren, had seen Fifield during West Texas recruiting for his Lubbock Christian softball program and told him that slapping was not maximizing her talent and physical abilities.As GCU coaches watched early results of her swing change, Hays told assistant coach Sandra Wente, "She could be big-bigtime."
"We just went to town on fixing what needed to be fixed," Fifield said of fall 2021 practices. "It definitely showed that what Hays is doing can work if you trust it. I miss slapping sometimes because it gives you a different look at putting the ball in play, but I love what I've been able to do as a hitter."
Fifield began playing softball at age 5 and was around the game constantly with an older sister, Kaitlin, who became UTEP's No. 3 all-time winning pitcher. Giving up instincts to cut the ball the opposite way was difficult, but the left-hander also had been giving up a powerful cut without using her strong hands to swing through the ball.
The adjustment was not instant, with Fifield only hitting .230 through 18 games last year. In the final 37 games, Fifield hit .415 with 10 home runs to help GCU to its first NCAA Division I regional appearance.
"It took a while to start retraining her swing and to get the slapper swing out of her, because she has such natural hands and power ability," Hays said. "She bought i
n, and she was willing to put in the work. It took time, but gradually she got confidence in what she was doing in and really staying in to hit instead of opening up."Fifield trusted in Hays first and then built a trust in her new swing. Last season, she modeled the confidence of then-leadoff hitter Gianna Nicoletti, who hit .396 and stole a WAC-record 51 bases. This season, she kept ample opportunities by hitting behind senior center fielder Hannah Burnett, who ranks 21st nationally with .426 hitting and is 34 for 35 on stolen bases.
Fifield slumped briefly in early April, when Wente stopped her in batting practice one day and said, "Slap this next pitch for me."
It fed the urge and restored Fifield's confidence to make contact after seeing the ball to the bat better. Fifield turned torrid at the end of the regular season and during GCU's WAC Tournament championship repeat, going 13 for 24 (.542) with four home runs in the Lopes' last eight games. Her 85 RBIs already is tied for the 20th-highest, single-season total in Division I history.
GCU brings the nation's No. 5 scoring offense into a regional site where Fifield and most of the starting lineup went 0-2 in last year's regional debut."We feel like we're going to go in there with a chip on our shoulder because we felt like we should've been put somewhere else," Fifield said. "But we're super-excited to get after it, especially to go out and compete with UCLA because of their big name. But at the end of the day, it's just softball. This team has all the talent in the world to do it."
Because of the COVID waiver, Fifield will return for a fifth GCU season next year and move back to the infield, where she began her career under then-coach Ann Pierson.
She is ahead of pace on and off the field. Fifield graduated in Psychology in December and started a master's degree in Elementary Education this semester. Her 44 career home runs passed the 14-year-old GCU record, set before the Division I transition, by nine. She has come a long way from the homesick freshman who considered quitting after the first week on campus.
"I love each and every one of the girls and coaches," Fifield said. "They've done nothing but help motivate me and help me become the player I am today, so I couldn't be more grateful for that. The surroundings we have on campus are umatched. I'm so grateful that I was given this opportunity because freshman me would've never expected this."
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