Senior Day shutout secures WAC seeding

Saturday, May 6

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

43-11, 0

Southern Utah

6-33, 0

Southern Utah

Grand Canyon

5/6/2023 5:06:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Lopes celebrate Burnett, Eastburn, Koeltzow, Schaefer, Villalobos

By: Adrianna Candelaria

Grand Canyon (43-11, 17-7 WAC) secured second place in the WAC standings by finishing the regular season with a Senior Day shutout and series sweep of Southern Utah.

"What a great day for these seniors," Lopes head coach Shanon Hays said. "This group has helped put GCU on the map at the DI level and I'm very thankful I've had the opportunity to coach these ladies. They're super players and wonderful people."

The Lopes defeated the Thunderbirds 5-0 on Sunday at GCU Softball Stadium, where senior right fielder Kristin Fifield notched three RBIs and senior center fielder Hannah Burnett posted two hits to finish a 7-for-9 series.

Meanwhile, GCU pitchers Hailey Hudson and Emily Darwin combined on a four-hitter with 10 ground outs, nine flyouts and one strikeout. GCU outhit Southern Utah in each series game, doing so by an 8-4 margin on Sunday.

After holding Southern Utah to an up-and-down first inning, Burnett led off with a triple to right center and came home on a sacrifice fly from Fifield for 1-0 lead.

GCU increased its lead to 4-0 with senior third baseman Madison Schaefer's ninth home run, a three-run blast in the second, and a Fifield two-run homer in the third for her 20th home run of the season.

Following a fourth- and fifth-inning drought, junior left fielder Kayla Rodgers singled to second and crossed home plate when junior first bazeman Katelyn Brannstrom sent a double to left center.

The Lopes forced another three-and-out Southern Utah offensive attempt in the top of the seventh to seal the deal.

"It was good to get the sweep and get ready for a big tournament week," Hays said. "I feel like we are healthy and ready to go. It's an exciting time of year and I'm excited to play at home this year!"

A second-place regular season finish clinches a double bye in the upcoming WAC Tournament on May 10-13, meaning the Lopes will rest until the fifth game of the tournament, on May 11 at 10 a.m. (Phoenix time). Utah Tech (34-16, 19-5) secured first place and will also get a double bye.