After 2 NCAA trips, Lopes find room to improve

While orchestrating the nation's best one-year turnaround in 2022 or finding ways to improve upon that last season, Grand Canyon softball had holes to patch and areas to improve.

GCU third-year head coach Shanon Hays and his players carry different burdens now – the desires of a two-time NCAA tournament qualifier to do more and an improved roster with more worthy talent than lineup spots.

"We've got good problems," Hays said heading into the Lopes' season opener at 4 p.m. Friday against Wisconsin before a Maine nightcap at GCU Softball Stadium.

The Lopes are on college softball's national map after back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. The 2023 season was highlighted by the nation's 11th-most wins (39) and arguably the NCAA tournament's greatest upset -- a defeat of then-No. 2 UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional it hosted.

The program breakthrough has led to a star-studded roster that merited a schedule upgrade of 22 games vs. top-100 teams in last season's NCAA Rating Percentage Index, including 11 opponents in the top 64.

"The goal is for Grand Canyon to always be seen as a top-25 team," Hays said. "I feel like we have the ability to step into that this year. We've never really had the pitching depth to push in. I was at Texas Tech for five years and had some top-20 teams, and this team is better than any of those teams lineup-wise."

GCU can be bolder because the overwhelming WAC favorite flexes so much strength.

The Lopes boast two of the nation's best players in graduates Kristin Fifield, last season's national leader in RBIs (85), and Ashley Trierweiler, the nation's No. 2 hitter (.486) last season. They also have junior Meghan Golden, a WAC Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year, representing a loaded six-arm pitching rotation.

"All around, we're a better team," Golden said. "Each position has a player that can sub in and be a starter too. We have depth this year. We definitely want to be better than last year and win a regional, but it starts with the WAC."

And the WAC appears to start with the Lopes, who took five of the 12 Preseason All-WAC spots despite the returnee-only makeup not including Trierweiler.

That GCU honoree group included the circle duo of Golden, 14-3 last season with a 2.06 ERA, and graduate Ariel Thompson, who has gone 33-9 in two Lopes seasons. Senior Hailey Hudson and junior Emily Darwin also return from a staff that posted a 2023 ERA of 2.44, which was a bump from 2.99 in 2022 and 4.71 in the 2021 season before Hays and pitching coach Maribeth Gorsuch arrived.

"Our depth is going to be our strength," Hays said. "It would be very uncommon this year to have a girl throw a full game. We're going to try to stretch them out and not overexpose them. That's how we beat UCLA, by using three pitchers to get that win."

With Hudson hitting another level and Darwin potentially becoming a frequent closer, the Lopes increased their versatility with hard-throwing additions in graduate Megan Schumacher, a Missouri transfer, and freshman Alina Satcher.

"Those are two really good arms who are going to throw mid- to upper-60s," Hays said. "That gives us a lot of depth. Those are the kind of live arms we needed to match up with these good programs."

Fifield's return and Trierweiler's addition highlight a lineup with more potential All-Americans in senior shortstop Katelyn Dunckel, who has hit .372 in two GCU seasons, and graduate Ramsay Lopez, who has 55 career home runs.

Fifield moves primarily to first base this season to bring more athleticism to an infield with Dunckel paired up the middle with freshman second baseman Savannah Groshong-Kirk, a speedy left-handed hitter from Canyon View High School in Waddell, Arizona. Another highly recruited freshman, Mackenzie Nolan of Plano, Texas, also can play there and may be Dunckel's heir apparent at shortstop.

The infield rounds out with junior Lovey Kepa'a at third base with senior Kaitlyn Brannstrom, a proven hitter at .344 last season, able to play first base when Fifield moves to the outfield at times.

"We expect huge things from Lovey," Hays said. "She's one of the best defensive players I've ever coached, but she has really come on at the plate as well. We've got a chance to have a phenomenal infield and be offensive as well."

Outfielders

Fifield's move to first base makes room for the incoming talent of the outfield, where senior Kayla Rodgers returns to left field after hitting .321 and winning WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player last season.

Trierweiler takes over center field after starting for four seasons at Santa Clara, where she set the West Coast Conference record with a .440 career batting average.

"She's even better than I thought she was," Hays said. "She's a phenomenal leader, and she has a huge passion to play the game. She's a perfect fit here at Grand Canyon. I wish I had her forever because she loves the faith-based part of our program and being here. She's just a dream. She's physical and can run and hit and has power."

Trierweiler took notice of the GCU program's culture last season when she watched the Lopes in the WAC Tournament and NCAA regional games.

"You could see it's a winning culture, and that's something I really wanted to be a part of," Trierweiler said. "The faith-based element was awesome as well. Not just the team, but the coaches are very strong in their faith. Being in an environment where I not only can grow and compete on the field but also grow in my faith, you can't ask for more than that."

The right-field spot could be sophomore Brynn-Jordan Smythe, who hit .480 before a season-ending injury last year, or Makaiya Gomez, a junior who hit .533 with 20 home runs and 28 stolen bases at South Mountain Community College last year.

Ramsay Lopez

Gomez puts a big bat in the lineup after transferring to GCU last season, when she found her groove to hit .411 in conference play and smash 13 home runs over the final 32 games.

"There are no holes in any of our classes or any part of our lineup," Trierweiler said. "I'm really excited to see what we do when we start playing."

Hays is hopeful that the experience and maturity of eight seniors give this GCU team more consistency as it takes on eight fellow NCAA tournament teams in nonconference play. With five Pac-12 and two Big Ten opponents, the Lopes want to build an NCAA tournament résumé before WAC play begins.

"The coolest thing about this team is having both sides of the spectrum of super athletic and talented freshmen and then really awesome seniors who have proven themselves in the past, and everybody in between is definitely a solid part of our team as well," Dunckel said. "Seeing everyone work cohesively is awesome."

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Players Mentioned

Kaitlyn Brannstrom

Emily Darwin

Katelyn Dunckel

Kristin Fifield

Meghan Golden

Makaiya Gomez

Hailey Hudson

Lovey Kepa’a

Savannah Kirk

Ramsay Lopez

Mackenzie Nolan

Kayla Rodgers

Alina Satcher

Megan Schumacher

Brynn-Jordan Smythe

Ariel Thompson

Ashley Trierweiler

Grand Canyon University Athletics