Standards, goals line up for rising stars, new faces

Thursday, February 6

Phoenix, Ariz.

3:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Northern Illinois

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Nate Cochran

2/4/2025 12:00:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

GCU pursues 4th consecutive NCAA tournament trip under Hays

By: Paul Coro

When Grand Canyon softball returned most of its 2023 stars and added established talent for 2024, success was carried over for a third consecutive NCAA tournament team.

The 2025 team is charged with carrying forward the standards of a program striving for a fourth consecutive NCAA regional appearance despite losing the veterans who accounted for more than 70% of last season's hits, home runs and RBIs and 61% of the innings pitched.

But when GCU opens its fourth season under head coach Shanon Hays with a Thursday night home doubleheader, it will be as bold in its belief and as talented with its team because of prior success. Returnees were part of winnings ways, and recruits were attracted to that Lopes level.

GCU is one of 10 teams nationally to have a .700-plus winning percentage in each of the past three seasons.

"Developing leaders and developing freshmen was challenging early," said Hays, whose career .730 winning percentage ranks ninth among active Division I coaches. "The freshmen are talented, but they were learning to put in the work like these other kids are used to doing and the daily grind. It's taken a while, but I'm happy with where it's at now.

"It's a totally different vibe this season. People are still trying to see where they fit in."

For a team that underwent a roster and staff makeover, it had quite the base with four returning starters in the field in graduate Makaiya Gomez, senior Lovey Kepa'a and sophomores Savannah Kirk and Tinley Lucas and two rotation pitchers in seniors Emily Darwin and Meghan Golden.

With program staples gone, Gomez emerged as a team leader when they began working out in mid-September heat to put the next sequential year on the NCAA regional wall at GCU Softball Stadium.

"We come out here and see all these championships, all these sponsors and our new video board, and it's what we're playing for — to uphold the standard," said Gomez, who hit .343 and slugged .529 for last season's 50-13 team. "We're not just some mid-major that needs to be overlooked. We're coming to compete. They better come looking for a fight. It's a dogfight every single day."

The program progression under Hays started with a 20-win bump, the largest one-year increase among the 2022 NCAA tournament field. In 2023, GCU's aggressive style of play returned the program to regionals and recorded its first postseason win – an upset of No. 2 UCLA that was the tourney's first upset of an overall No. 2 seed in 18 years.

The next breakthrough came last season, when GCU reached a regional final with No. 8 hitting team in the nation (.334 batting average).

"Last year, we were pretty sure who our 10 who were going to play were all the time," Hays said. "This year, we've got some options with younger kids we want to develop. We have some key positions covered, and it's been fun to plug everything together."

GCU claimed three of 11 Preseason All-WAC spots with Gomez, Kirk as WAC Preseason Player of the Year and Golden as WAC Preseason Player of the Year.

Meghan Golden

Golden, with 41 career wins and 361 career strikeouts, returns after posting a 2.25 ERA over the past two seasons at GCU and leading last season's team in ERA (2.15), starts (22), complete games (eight), shutouts (five) and opponent batting average (.213).

The Peoria, Arizona, native enters the season overcoming injury, but the Lopes also have Darwin back after going 9-2 with a 2.39 ERA last season.

"It starts with those two in the circle," Hays said.

GCU's pitching staff, led by former Nicholls State pitching coach Kat Frakes, added a third rotation arm in sophomore right-hander Maggie Place, who went 17-8 for Oklahoma Baptist last season and was Most Valuable Player in a Division I summer league.

"Bringing in Maggie was big for us," Hays said. "She had a super fall. She's a different type of pitcher than I've had. She moves the ball around well, spins it well, goes up and down, a good change-up. We're going to be counting on her for some big innings."

The staff also featured freshman left-hander Oakley Vickers and the return of hard-throwing sophomore Alina Satcher, who can also hit, and junior Taryn Batterton, who is one of four current players on the 2023 regional team but left last season to gain experience at McLellan Community College in Texas.

"We've got some proven options," Hays said. "If it goes like the fall, I feel really good about things. We play such a tough schedule early. We'll find out quickly. It'll be like last year, where we have options to give people different looks."

Savannah Kirk

Kirk, who is from nearby Waddell, Arizona, drew the top preseason honor from WAC coaches after her .389 batting average and 19 stolen bases each ranked second on GCU last season.

Her defense, along with Kepa'a's at third base, are exceptional to set an infield that will have shortstop Mackenzie Nolan taking on a larger role after getting 12 starts as a freshman last season.

"One of the big keys for us is Mack taking over at short," Hays said. "We need her to take over that position and make it hers. She's definitely got the ability to do it. She's the embodiment of the type of kid we want in our program."

At the plate, Kirk can set the table as a left-handed slap hitter at the top of the lineup. She went 4 for 7 in GCU's Los Angeles Regional victories against San Diego State and No. 17 Virginia Tech.

"It's nice to be recognized, but the season will tell," Kirk said of the WAC Preseason Player of the Year honor. "The pressure makes it more fun. You've got to produce as an athlete. That's the whole point of this game.

"I'm a little more mature, just really perfecting the things I do. I'm trying to swing away a little bit more and speaking out more as a leader a little more."

Lovey Kepa'a

Kepa'a is the top returnee for home runs after hitting six last season and having eight extra-base hits among her 17 total hits.

"Lovey's swung the bat better than I've ever seen her," Hays said. "She worked really hard in the summer. You see her in batting practice, and her talent is crazy. She's really come on. We're expecting big things."

Junior transfer Emily Gonzalez, an All-WAC first-team third baseman who hit a team-best .374 for Southern Utah last season, moves to first base and can alternate there and at designated player with freshman Jada Cooper.

"Emily is calm," Hays said. "She's been there, done that. She's a huge addition for us and is going to put up power numbers."

Cooper, who is from Houston, can also play catcher and third base and brings elite hitting skill to thrive from the get-go at GCU.

"She's got the talent to take Ramsay Lopez's place with the power," Hays said. "We're very excited about her."

Gomez is joined in the outfield by graduate transfer Mia Weckel from Cal State Fullerton and junior college transfer Sydney McCray, who is from Sarasota, Florida, and is the daughter of former major leaguer Rodney McCray.

All three have the defensive skills and speed of a center fielder, and McCray can join Kirk at the top of the lineup as another lefthanded, slap threat with dynamic baserunning.

Freshman Willa Ford will be a fourth outfielder and can play second base or third base in an infield with more first-year player options in junior college All-America honoree Arriana Wright of Spring, Texas, and freshman Haley Wilkinson of Gardnerville, Nevada.

"Our team is so talented," Kirk said. "A lot of our freshmen should be really helpful for us. Girls who didn't get to play as much last year and the transfers will step up. A lot of girls can hit home runs, but we can do more on the bases."

Lucas solidifies the work at catcher and finished her freshman season hitting .406 over the final 21 games.

"Tinley cares and has pride about being a Lope and where she's at and wanting us to be good," Hays said. "She's a talented, strong, athletic kid who's got a fire to play. She's grown a ton from last year. The last 20% of the season, she was hitting as well as anyone, and she's carried that on."

Senior Alexis Soto, who was an injury redshirt last season and missed the fall, is hitting well this spring and will back up Lucas at catcher.

Makaiya Gomez

The depth and departures likely will prompt Hays to do more lineup shuffling in the early going, when the Lopes open a challenging schedule with five consecutive weekend tournaments hosted at GCU Softball Stadium. Since Hays took over the program for the 2022 season, the Lopes have improved their record annually from 39-16 to 47-13 to 50-13.

This season marks the program's largest makeover since Hays' first season included six returners from a 19-30 season. He also has all-new assistant coaches in Frakes, former Virginia Tech student assistant Jayme Bailey and his son, Hunter, who was North Texas' assistant coach the past two seasons.

"We have a lot of strengths," Gomez said. "It is going to be exciting to see. The intensity's up. The competition's up. We've been itching to see another set of pitchers."