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NCAA tournament returns GCU to UCLA
5/12/2024 6:04:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro
Lopes play Friday in 3rd consecutive Los Angeles Regional after Virginia Tech-SDSU
When the NCAA Selection Show flashed Grand Canyon's name on the tournament bracket and switched to a shot of the Lopes' campus gathering, the faces of the team remained serious Sunday.
GCU is serious about its postseason with a third consecutive Los Angeles Regional appearance, which it intends to use to show that it can make more noise than even last season's thunderous upset there.
The Lopes will play host UCLA in the NCAA tournament opener for a third consecutive year. The 5:30 p.m. Friday rematch on ESPN+ comes a year after GCU matched the greatest upset in tournament history, beating No. 2 UCLA 3-2.
The Bruins (37-10) are No. 6 for this year's tournament after winning the Pac-12 regular season and postseason championships. Mountain West champion San Diego State (31-18) also returns to the Los Angeles Regional and will play No. 15 Virginia Tech (39-12-1) in Friday's 3 p.m. game on ESPNU.
GCU (48-11) received the region's No. 4 seed after setting a single-season program record for victories and rolling through the WAC regular season and postseason with a 26-3 mark. Its .813 winning percentage for the entire season is the nation's ninth best.
"I kind of thought they'd send us somewhere else since we've been there two straight years, but it's not surprising so we're excited to be able to go again to UCLA," said Lopes head coach Shanon Hays, who has led the program's greatest three-year run at 134-40 (.770). "We've proven we're a good team, but we're going to a great regional. All three teams there are phenomenal programs, so it's going to be super tough."
The 13-time national champion Bruins have an eight-game winning streak, have won 15 of their last 16 games, average 6.1 runs per game and boast six All-Pac-12 first-team selections, including two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year Maya Brady. This season, Brady hit .400-plus (.403) again and added 15 home runs and 61 RBIs. She is tied with GCU graduate Ramsay Lopez for the fourth-most career home runs (69) among active Division I players.
After upsetting UCLA last season, the Lopes dropped regional games to San Diego State and Liberty to end that season and provide motivation for this one. Four position starters and all three GCU pitchers in that game return this season.
"This is a mature bunch," Hays said. "They know the last two years have nothing to do with this year. We're going to go in there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We're excited, and we can't wait to get there.
"You always want to do more. We feel like we have a better ball club. Every year, every week, every game is different, so we need to be as prepared as we can be and go play confidently. We're certainly thrilled to be in the big tournament, and it's always cool to go to a storied place like UCLA."
Part of the Lopes' improvement came with adding graduate transfer Ashley Trierweiler, the sweet-swinging first baseman who will be playing in her first NCAA regional after winning WAC Player of the Year and WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Trierweiler leads the nation in hits (88) and carries the fourth-best batting average (.463) this season.
"It's going to be fun to compete at a regional because I've never done it before," Trierweiler said. "In a way, it kind of makes me feel like a freshman again. It's all new. We know we can compete with them already. I'm excited to see what we can do.
"I wouldn't want to do it with any other group of girls. Being able to finish on a strong note is the cherry on top of what's been a pretty good experience in college softball."
GCU played each of the other regional participants this season, beating then-No. 17 Virginia Tech 11-2 at home on Feb. 17 and losing to San Diego State 8-4 on March 8 in Long Beach, California.
Virginia Tech finished third in the ACC and was upset in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal last week by Georgia Tech, giving the Hokies three losses in their past five games. All of their losses on the season came away from home.
Virginia Tech boasts three All-ACC first-team honorees, including a pair of .400 hitters and 20-home run slugger Cori McMillan. The Hokies rank second nationally in home runs per game (2.2) and third in slugging percentage (.645).
San Diego State, which two-hit GCU in last year's regional meeting, won the Mountain West regular-season title on the final day of the season and went 3-0 at the conference tournament.
Since beating the Lopes this season, the Aztecs are 22-8 with Mountain West Co-Player of the Year Mac Barbara headlining four all-conference first teamers. Barbara is 11 for 15 with five home runs in the past five games, but SDSU also boasts a pitching staff with a 2.53 ERA.
The winner of the Los Angeles Regional will play the winner of the Athens Regional in a May 24-26 Super Regional
"A couple weeks ago, I told our team that if we have two good weeks, we might have a chance to win 50 games," Hays said. "When we dropped that close one at (No.18) Arizona (3-2 on April 30), I thought it was going to be tough without much room for error, but these girls stepped up."
GCU is serious about its postseason with a third consecutive Los Angeles Regional appearance, which it intends to use to show that it can make more noise than even last season's thunderous upset there.
The Lopes will play host UCLA in the NCAA tournament opener for a third consecutive year. The 5:30 p.m. Friday rematch on ESPN+ comes a year after GCU matched the greatest upset in tournament history, beating No. 2 UCLA 3-2.The Bruins (37-10) are No. 6 for this year's tournament after winning the Pac-12 regular season and postseason championships. Mountain West champion San Diego State (31-18) also returns to the Los Angeles Regional and will play No. 15 Virginia Tech (39-12-1) in Friday's 3 p.m. game on ESPNU.
GCU (48-11) received the region's No. 4 seed after setting a single-season program record for victories and rolling through the WAC regular season and postseason with a 26-3 mark. Its .813 winning percentage for the entire season is the nation's ninth best.
"I kind of thought they'd send us somewhere else since we've been there two straight years, but it's not surprising so we're excited to be able to go again to UCLA," said Lopes head coach Shanon Hays, who has led the program's greatest three-year run at 134-40 (.770). "We've proven we're a good team, but we're going to a great regional. All three teams there are phenomenal programs, so it's going to be super tough."The 13-time national champion Bruins have an eight-game winning streak, have won 15 of their last 16 games, average 6.1 runs per game and boast six All-Pac-12 first-team selections, including two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year Maya Brady. This season, Brady hit .400-plus (.403) again and added 15 home runs and 61 RBIs. She is tied with GCU graduate Ramsay Lopez for the fourth-most career home runs (69) among active Division I players.
After upsetting UCLA last season, the Lopes dropped regional games to San Diego State and Liberty to end that season and provide motivation for this one. Four position starters and all three GCU pitchers in that game return this season.
"This is a mature bunch," Hays said. "They know the last two years have nothing to do with this year. We're going to go in there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We're excited, and we can't wait to get there.
"You always want to do more. We feel like we have a better ball club. Every year, every week, every game is different, so we need to be as prepared as we can be and go play confidently. We're certainly thrilled to be in the big tournament, and it's always cool to go to a storied place like UCLA."
Part of the Lopes' improvement came with adding graduate transfer Ashley Trierweiler, the sweet-swinging first baseman who will be playing in her first NCAA regional after winning WAC Player of the Year and WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Trierweiler leads the nation in hits (88) and carries the fourth-best batting average (.463) this season.
"It's going to be fun to compete at a regional because I've never done it before," Trierweiler said. "In a way, it kind of makes me feel like a freshman again. It's all new. We know we can compete with them already. I'm excited to see what we can do."I wouldn't want to do it with any other group of girls. Being able to finish on a strong note is the cherry on top of what's been a pretty good experience in college softball."
GCU played each of the other regional participants this season, beating then-No. 17 Virginia Tech 11-2 at home on Feb. 17 and losing to San Diego State 8-4 on March 8 in Long Beach, California.
Virginia Tech finished third in the ACC and was upset in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal last week by Georgia Tech, giving the Hokies three losses in their past five games. All of their losses on the season came away from home.
Virginia Tech boasts three All-ACC first-team honorees, including a pair of .400 hitters and 20-home run slugger Cori McMillan. The Hokies rank second nationally in home runs per game (2.2) and third in slugging percentage (.645).
San Diego State, which two-hit GCU in last year's regional meeting, won the Mountain West regular-season title on the final day of the season and went 3-0 at the conference tournament.
Since beating the Lopes this season, the Aztecs are 22-8 with Mountain West Co-Player of the Year Mac Barbara headlining four all-conference first teamers. Barbara is 11 for 15 with five home runs in the past five games, but SDSU also boasts a pitching staff with a 2.53 ERA.
The winner of the Los Angeles Regional will play the winner of the Athens Regional in a May 24-26 Super Regional
"A couple weeks ago, I told our team that if we have two good weeks, we might have a chance to win 50 games," Hays said. "When we dropped that close one at (No.18) Arizona (3-2 on April 30), I thought it was going to be tough without much room for error, but these girls stepped up."
Los Angeles Regional schedule
- Friday, May 17
- Saturday, May 18
- Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | 2 p.m.
- Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 | 4:30 p.m.
- Game 5: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 | 7 p.m.
- Sunday, May 19
- Game 6 | TBD
- Game 7 (if necessary) | TBD
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