Completed Event: Softball at Utah State on March 28, 2026 , Win , 10, to, 1
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
WAC predicts dominant Lopes season
1/31/2024 2:00:00 PM | Softball
GCU picked 1st in coaches poll; Fifield, Golden named WAC Preseason Player, Co-Pitcher of the Year
Grand Canyon softball was predicted to return to the top of the WAC this season after winning the conference tournament title last season. The WAC coaches' preseason poll also selected GCU graduate Kristin Fifield as Preseason Player of the Year and junior Meghan Golden as Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year with teammates Katelyn Dunckel, Ramsay Lopez and Ariel Thompson joining them on Preseason All-WAC.
Sitting atop the coaches' poll with eight first-place votes (80 points), GCU led Utah Tech (69) and Seattle UÂ (66).Â
"It's great to get that kind of respect, especially with the eight seniors that we have now, " Lopes head coach Shanon Hays said. "Now the challenge is to live up to that and go show everybody that we actually are that. I think we have a great enough schedule to get us ready for WAC play, and hopefully it will all pan out."
GCU returns after its winningest season in program history resulted in a 47-13 record, including home-field dominance (32-7) and earning its second straight WAC Tournament title to return to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional and upset No. 2 UCLA.Â
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Hays, who enters his third season with the Lopes, put GCU softball on the map of premiere programs and transformed the team's identity in record time. The Lopes made a 20-win improvement to tie for the fourth-largest advancement in the nation in his first season, when Hays won 2022 WAC Coach of the Year. He has overseen five All-WAC award-winners each season.Â
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Fifield, putting on the purple jersey for her fifth and final season, earned her third consecutive All-WAC first-team honor last year after leading the conference in home runs, doubles and RBIs. She led the nation with 85 RBIs and finished fifth nationally in home runs (21) and seventh in doubles (19). She also set the GCU Division I-era career RBIs record (185), GCU all-time career home run record (44) and GCU single-season home run record (21).
Notching 21 multi-RBI games, 16 multi-hit games and a season-high hit streak of eight games, the native of El Paso, Texas, towed an impressive stat line of 85 RBIs, 21 home runs, 19 doubles, a .346 batting average, a .467 on-base percentage, an .803 slugging percentage and a .992 fielding percentage on the season to also be honored with the Joe Kearney Award, which goes to the WAC's top female student-athlete, and was an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
This preseason, Fifield has also been named to Softball America's preseason All-America first team, Top 25 Outfielders list (No. 8) and D1 Softball (No. 65) and Softball America's Top 100 (No. 34) lists.
"She's very deserving," Hays said. "It's great for her to be recognized in this way, especially after the numbers she put up last year. The great thing about this team and our depth is that she is really one of four or five that could have been voted Preseason Player of the Year. We just have so many proven kids, and it's neat to see that we have that many impact players."
Golden earned All-WAC first team and WAC All-Academic last season after leading the WAC in strikeouts (117) and finishing the season with a team-best 2.06 ERA.
Making 22 starts and 27 appearances in the circle, Golden boasted a 14-3 record, two no-hitters (CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 28, Abilene Christian on March 10) and seven complete games. She aided in a combined shutout with teammate Hailey Hudson and former Lopes pitcher Kaila Eastburn during GCU's opening weekend at Incarnate Word. Golden and Hudson also threw back-to-back no-hitters for the first time in the program's Divsion-I era during a doubleheader vs. CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 28).
On March 13, the Northern Colorado transfer was named WAC Pitcher of the Week after posting a 2-0 weekend in matchups against Colorado State and WAC counterpart Abilene Christian; the junior threw her second no-hitter of the season, struck out 16 and only allowed two hits and one run through 8 1/3 innings with a 0.00 weekend ERA.Â
Golden pitched 2 1/3 innings in GCU's first-round NCAA West Regional upset of No. 2 UCLA.Â
"It's a great honor for Meg," Hays said. "She had super numbers in the WAC last year and, when she was healthy, she was really hard to beat."
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Meanwhile, Dunckel achieved her second consecutive All-WAC first team, WAC All-Defensive Team and National Fastpitch Coaches Assocation All-Region recognitions. The shortstop started all games for the Lopes and led the team in assists (140) and sacrifice bunts (six) in addition to recording a .934 fielding percentage with 12 double plays and 73 putouts.Â
Dunckel completed her junior campaign with a .358 batting average, .624 slugging percentage, .467 on base percentage, 11 stolen bases, 62 hits, 40 RBIs and nine home runs. She doubled against No. 2 UCLA to score a run in a 3-2 NCAA West Regional first-round victory. Throughout the season, Dunckel recorded 13 multi-hit games, seven multi-RBI games, and a season-high hit streak of 16 games and two walk-off home runs (Feb. 17 and 24).Â
"KK (Dunckel) is truly one of the best shortstops in the country," Hays said.Â
Thompson, suiting up for her third and final season, was named to the All-WAC team for her second consecutive season and earned 2023 WAC All-Academic honors.Â
She capped her senior season with a 2.42 ERA, a 12-3 record, and 115 2/3 innings with 84 strikeouts, 30 appearances, 17 starts and three saves. Thompson also pitched a shutout vs. Green Bay (Feb. 10) in her season debut and aided in a combined shutout with former Lopes pitcher Taryn Batterton against Montana (Feb. 24).
The graduate pitched 2 1/3 innings vs. No. 2 UCLA in the Lopes NCAA West Regional first-round victory as well.Â
"To have Ariel and Meghan be recognized just feels good," Hays said. "We have proven experience in the circle, and they're not even the only two we'll be relying on this year. We're planning on using a full pitching staff to be as effective as we can, but to have these two lead dogs in the mix is really special."
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Lopez, now in her fifth season, has earned All-WAC first-team honors for four consecutive years after her first season with the Lopes and three seasons with New Mexico State
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The native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, started all games for GCU and recorded a .362 batting average, 63 hits, 61 RBIs, 18 home runs, a .701 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage, leading the Lopes in walks (33).
Lopez had 19 multi-hit games, 17 multi-RBI games and a season-high hit streak of 11 games, while posting a .988 fielding percentage, 81 putouts, four double plays and three assists in the field.
"Ramsay's career speaks for itself, Hays said. "She is one of several huge leaders for us."Â
GCU hosts its home opener on Feb. 9 with games against Wisconsin (4 p.m.) and Maine (6:30 p.m.) at GCU Softball Stadium.
"The only negative about looking at all of these awards is that four out of the five kids are seniors," Hays said. "I'll hate not having them more than this year, but they're all bigtime players, and I feel like they've really put Grand Canyon softball on the map. We're ready for a great season."
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Sitting atop the coaches' poll with eight first-place votes (80 points), GCU led Utah Tech (69) and Seattle U (66). "It's great to get that kind of respect, especially with the eight seniors that we have now, " Lopes head coach Shanon Hays said. "Now the challenge is to live up to that and go show everybody that we actually are that. I think we have a great enough schedule to get us ready for WAC play, and hopefully it will all pan out."
GCU returns after its winningest season in program history resulted in a 47-13 record, including home-field dominance (32-7) and earning its second straight WAC Tournament title to return to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional and upset No. 2 UCLA.Â
Â
Hays, who enters his third season with the Lopes, put GCU softball on the map of premiere programs and transformed the team's identity in record time. The Lopes made a 20-win improvement to tie for the fourth-largest advancement in the nation in his first season, when Hays won 2022 WAC Coach of the Year. He has overseen five All-WAC award-winners each season.Â
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Fifield, putting on the purple jersey for her fifth and final season, earned her third consecutive All-WAC first-team honor last year after leading the conference in home runs, doubles and RBIs. She led the nation with 85 RBIs and finished fifth nationally in home runs (21) and seventh in doubles (19). She also set the GCU Division I-era career RBIs record (185), GCU all-time career home run record (44) and GCU single-season home run record (21).Notching 21 multi-RBI games, 16 multi-hit games and a season-high hit streak of eight games, the native of El Paso, Texas, towed an impressive stat line of 85 RBIs, 21 home runs, 19 doubles, a .346 batting average, a .467 on-base percentage, an .803 slugging percentage and a .992 fielding percentage on the season to also be honored with the Joe Kearney Award, which goes to the WAC's top female student-athlete, and was an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
This preseason, Fifield has also been named to Softball America's preseason All-America first team, Top 25 Outfielders list (No. 8) and D1 Softball (No. 65) and Softball America's Top 100 (No. 34) lists.
"She's very deserving," Hays said. "It's great for her to be recognized in this way, especially after the numbers she put up last year. The great thing about this team and our depth is that she is really one of four or five that could have been voted Preseason Player of the Year. We just have so many proven kids, and it's neat to see that we have that many impact players."
Golden earned All-WAC first team and WAC All-Academic last season after leading the WAC in strikeouts (117) and finishing the season with a team-best 2.06 ERA.
Making 22 starts and 27 appearances in the circle, Golden boasted a 14-3 record, two no-hitters (CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 28, Abilene Christian on March 10) and seven complete games. She aided in a combined shutout with teammate Hailey Hudson and former Lopes pitcher Kaila Eastburn during GCU's opening weekend at Incarnate Word. Golden and Hudson also threw back-to-back no-hitters for the first time in the program's Divsion-I era during a doubleheader vs. CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 28).
On March 13, the Northern Colorado transfer was named WAC Pitcher of the Week after posting a 2-0 weekend in matchups against Colorado State and WAC counterpart Abilene Christian; the junior threw her second no-hitter of the season, struck out 16 and only allowed two hits and one run through 8 1/3 innings with a 0.00 weekend ERA.Â
Golden pitched 2 1/3 innings in GCU's first-round NCAA West Regional upset of No. 2 UCLA.Â
"It's a great honor for Meg," Hays said. "She had super numbers in the WAC last year and, when she was healthy, she was really hard to beat."
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Meanwhile, Dunckel achieved her second consecutive All-WAC first team, WAC All-Defensive Team and National Fastpitch Coaches Assocation All-Region recognitions. The shortstop started all games for the Lopes and led the team in assists (140) and sacrifice bunts (six) in addition to recording a .934 fielding percentage with 12 double plays and 73 putouts.Â
Dunckel completed her junior campaign with a .358 batting average, .624 slugging percentage, .467 on base percentage, 11 stolen bases, 62 hits, 40 RBIs and nine home runs. She doubled against No. 2 UCLA to score a run in a 3-2 NCAA West Regional first-round victory. Throughout the season, Dunckel recorded 13 multi-hit games, seven multi-RBI games, and a season-high hit streak of 16 games and two walk-off home runs (Feb. 17 and 24).Â
"KK (Dunckel) is truly one of the best shortstops in the country," Hays said.Â
Thompson, suiting up for her third and final season, was named to the All-WAC team for her second consecutive season and earned 2023 WAC All-Academic honors.Â
She capped her senior season with a 2.42 ERA, a 12-3 record, and 115 2/3 innings with 84 strikeouts, 30 appearances, 17 starts and three saves. Thompson also pitched a shutout vs. Green Bay (Feb. 10) in her season debut and aided in a combined shutout with former Lopes pitcher Taryn Batterton against Montana (Feb. 24).
The graduate pitched 2 1/3 innings vs. No. 2 UCLA in the Lopes NCAA West Regional first-round victory as well.Â
"To have Ariel and Meghan be recognized just feels good," Hays said. "We have proven experience in the circle, and they're not even the only two we'll be relying on this year. We're planning on using a full pitching staff to be as effective as we can, but to have these two lead dogs in the mix is really special."
Â
Lopez, now in her fifth season, has earned All-WAC first-team honors for four consecutive years after her first season with the Lopes and three seasons with New Mexico State
. The native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, started all games for GCU and recorded a .362 batting average, 63 hits, 61 RBIs, 18 home runs, a .701 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage, leading the Lopes in walks (33).
Lopez had 19 multi-hit games, 17 multi-RBI games and a season-high hit streak of 11 games, while posting a .988 fielding percentage, 81 putouts, four double plays and three assists in the field.
"Ramsay's career speaks for itself, Hays said. "She is one of several huge leaders for us."Â
GCU hosts its home opener on Feb. 9 with games against Wisconsin (4 p.m.) and Maine (6:30 p.m.) at GCU Softball Stadium.
"The only negative about looking at all of these awards is that four out of the five kids are seniors," Hays said. "I'll hate not having them more than this year, but they're all bigtime players, and I feel like they've really put Grand Canyon softball on the map. We're ready for a great season."
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Preseason conference awards |
|
| AWARD | PLAYER, SCHOOL |
| Player of the Year | Kristin Fifield, GCU |
| Co-Pitcher of the Year | Meghan Golden, GCU |
| Co-Pitcher of the Year | Stefanie Madrigal, Seattle U |
Preseason All-WAC Â |
|
| POSITION | PLAYER, YEAR, SCHOOL |
| Utility | Kristin Fifield, senior, GCU |
| Pitcher | Meghan Golden, junior, GCU |
| Infielder | Katelyn Dunckel, senior, GCU |
| Infielder | Ramsay Lopez, graduate, GCU |
| Pitcher | Ariel Thompson, graduate, GCU |
| Infielder | Priscilla Estrada, junior, California Baptist |
| Pitcher | Stefanie Madrigal, senior, Seattle U |
| Outfielder | Tai Wilson, junior, Seattle U |
| Pitcher | Brooke Gainous, junior, Stephen F. Austin |
| Utility | Marley Neises, sophomore, UT Arlington |
| Infielder | Carly Eldredge, junior, Utah Tech |
| Pitcher | Sauren Garton, sophomore, Utah Tech |
Preseason coaches poll |
|||
| RANK | TEAM (first-place votes) | POINTS | |
| 1 |
 |
Grand Canyon (8) | 80 |
| 2 |
 |
Utah Tech (1) | 69 |
| 3 |
 |
Seattle U (1) | 66 |
| 4 |
 |
Stephen F. Austin | 53 |
| 5 |
 |
Tarleton | 50 |
| 6 |
 |
California Baptist | 40 |
| 7 |
 |
UT Arlington | 32 |
| 8 |
 |
Utah Valley  | 32 |
| 9 |
 |
Abilene Christian | 19 |
| 10 |
 |
Southern Utah | 9 |
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