Returnees carry 2 wins on electric Opening Night

Thursday, February 6

Phoenix, Ariz.

3:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-0

Northern Illinois

0-1

Northern Illinois

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

2/6/2025 5:44:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

Kepa'a, Gomez each blast 2 home runs; Kirk goes 6 for 8

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon softball still has 51 more games to play before it begins the postseason, but the Lopes' first two games felt different.

When GCU felt the weight of Opening Night, a crowd of 1,208 fans at GCU Softball Stadium and the program standard of three consecutive NCAA tournament trips, the Lopes leaned on returning leaders who stood strong and did not quiver in a Thursday doubleheader sweep.

GCU opened the season with 5-2 and 9-4 wins against Northern Illinois to snatch a two-win Opening Night for the fourth consecutive year since head coach Shanon Hays took over the program.

The Lopes won 82% of their home games in the past two seasons, and the atmosphere did not rattle a returning core of senior starting pitcher Meghan Golden (five-inning opening win), senior third baseman Lovey Kepa'a (two-home run night), graduate center fielder Makaiya Gomez (two-homer second game) and sophomore second baseman Savannah Kirk (two 3-for-4 games).

Phoenix, AZ Feb. 6,, 2025 : The Lopes sweep Northern Illinois in an opening day doubleheader at GCU Softball Stadium. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Phoenix, AZ Feb. 6,, 2025 : The Lopes sweep Northern Illinois in an opening day doubleheader at GCU Softball Stadium. David Kadlubowski/GCU

"It's the maturity of the older girls getting you through in these times when we have a super crowd and a great atmosphere," Hays said. "The girls were playing with the jitters. The older girls did what we expect them to do. We need the new ones to settle in a little bit."

GCU lost a pair of 14-home run hitters in Kristin Fifield and Ramsay Lopez, but Kepa'a and Gomez opened the season with a power surge. The Lopes enjoyed a five-homer Thursday with freshman Jada Cooper settling in by Game 2 for a home run that flexed her promising power.

Kepa'a and Gomez knocked in nine of the Lopes' 14 runs.

"We definitely are more comfortable," Gomez said. "It's good to have a different atmosphere. The scoreboard got us hyped and ready to go. Having the vets be more calm and feel like we've been here before definitely helped the freshman settle in more because they were feeling the pressure."

Game 1: GCU wins 5-2

GCU needed to break in its new GCU Softball Stadium video board, and Kepa'a's three-run home run and Golden's seven strikeouts in a five-inning outing provide the first game's highlights.

Golden, the right-hander from nearby Peoria, was GCU's opening-game starter for the first time Thursday and earned her 42nd career victory. She asserted herself by opening the game with back-to-back strikeouts and yielded three hits, no walks and one run over a five-inning start.

"I wanted to throw her the first game because she's the most experienced and to get us off to a good start," Hays said. "She did that for us. She didn't have great stuff, but it was good enough for her."

Lovey Kepa'a

Kepa'a provided all of the backing needed in the second inning, when she crushed a full-count, two-out pitch over the right-center field wall for a Lopes 3-0 lead.

Junior first baseman Emily Gonzalez made her GCU debut with a leadoff single and graduate right fielder Mia Weckel, also in her first Lopes appearance, kept the inning alive with an infield single to bring up Kepa'a. The Hawai'i native fouled off a full-count pitch to set up the swing that is building on last season's six home runs, the most among GCU returnees.

"It's a totally new team and new identity, but it's been nothing short of amazing," Kepa'a said. "It's knowing that it's my senior year. I worked super hard over the summer. Coach (Shanon) Hays and (assistant coach) Hunter (Hays) helped me through getting my confidence back."

After Northern Illinois tightened the lead to 3-1 in the third, the Lopes stretched their advantage to 5-1 in the fourth. Weckel hit an infield single, and Kepa'a was hit by a pitch before the pair moved into scoring position on sophomore shortstop Mackenzie Nolan's sacrifice bunt.

Kirk, the WAC Preseason Player of the Year, ripped a two-run double to right-center field for a 5-1 lead. After popping up in her first at bat, Kirk hit four singles and a double in the next five at bats Thursday.

Golden ended her outing with two perfect innings, and junior right-hander Taryn Batterton entered the game with a runner on second and no outs in the sixth inning.

That Husky came home on two ground outs, but Batteron retired six consecutive batters. After pitching 11 innings as a GCU freshman in 2023, Batterton picked up experience at McLellan Community College last season and showed her evolution by striking out the side in the seventh inning.

Game 2: GCU wins 9-4

The Lopes led the nightcap 3-1 after two runs scored on a two-out error in the first inning and Cooper's first career hit, a solo home run to left field, in the second inning.

One of GCU's three Game 2 errors helped Northern Illinois take a 4-3 lead in the third inning, when Oklahoma Baptist transfer Maggie Place entered for 4 2/3 relief innings with one run allowed.

Kepa'a answered with her second home run of the day – a two-run moonshot to left field that put GCU ahead 5-4 in third inning.

"People try to pitch her tough and get inside her, and she's learned to get extension and make adjustments," Hays said. "She's so talented that when she barrels it, good things happen."

Kepa'a also saved a run in the first inning when her relay threw out a Northern Illinois runner at home to end the inning.

"It killed their momentum," Hays said. "That's an easy play for Lovey. She is a phenomenal defender. Some of the plays she made, she makes them look routine and they're not routine."

Makaiya Gomez

Gomez put the game away for the Lopes by homering in her last two at bats of the day. She was 1 for 6 until she sent opposite-field, two-run home runs over the left-field wall in the fourth and sixth innings. She did it with nobody out in the fourth for a 7-4 lead and then came up clutch for a 9-4 cushion in the sixth.

"In the offseason and January, I worked on trying to hit the outside pitch where it's pitched and stay extended," Gomez said. "The last two at bats showed my hard work is paying off."

After trying four pitchers in Thursday's win, the Lopes will test their circle depth in this four-day, six-game stretch. GCU returns for another doubleheader Friday against Colgate at 5 p.m. and Wichita State at 7:30 p.m. The weekend closes with games against Montana at 5 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

"We played like we were nervous," Hays said. "It was nice to just be so-so and still come out on top. Northern Illinois battled very well."