Upcoming Event: Softball versus Pima CC on September 30, 2025 at 6 p.m.
Softball
6 p.m.
vs Pima CC
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, March 1
Phoenix, Ariz.
4 p.m.
Grand Canyon
14-3
11
vs
3
Yale
2-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Yale
0
0
2
0
0
1
3
6
1
Grand Canyon
2
0
0
3
1
5
11
12
1
Photo by: Bryce Fairchild
GCU wins 2 Saturday night in Phoenix
3/1/2025 10:45:00 PM | Softball
Home runs, stellar pitching lead Lopes to 3 consecutive wins
Grand Canyon relied on pitching and the long ball to sweep yet another doubleheader at GCU Softball Stadium on Saturday night.
GCU (15-3), coming off a 10-2 win over Utah State on Friday night, continued its hot start to the season with an 11-3 win over Yale in six innings and 1-0 nail-biter over Oregon State in the nightcap.
"We picked up our energy when we needed to in game one," Lopes head coach Shanon Hays said. "The pitching really stood out to me in game two. Meg (Golden) and Maggie (Place) gave us a great combo with Meg throwing up and Maggie throwing down and keep batters off balance all night."
In just his fourth season, Hays achieved his 150th win at Grand Canyon in the win over Yale.
Junior Taryn Batterton started in the circle, going five innings and allowing four hits and two runs. She moved to 5-1 on the season, securing another three strikeouts on the night.
GCU got on the board in the 1st inning due to the "old reliable" combination of sophomore Savannah Kirk and graduate outfielder Makaiya Gomez. Kirk, did what she does best: singling to left field. Gomez followed suit, hitting her team-best 5th home run of the season in a no-doubter to right field.Â
After a pair of Yale runs tied the game up at two, the Lopes got back to business in the fourth inning. Senior third-baseman Lovey Kepa'a doubled and eventually scored on a blast to right-center field from Alina Satcher. Satcher now has three hits on the year and in her collegiate career, and they are all home runs. Satcher's three homers have all come in the last week.
Another Kirk single and stolen base followed by a Sydney McCray double, made the score 5-2 through four innings. GCU racked up another eight stolen bases in the game, tying their D-1 record of stolen bases that was set last weekend against Portland State. McCray added three herself, giving her eleven on the year. Kirk and Gomez also stole two apiece. Savannah Kirk's 17 stolen bases keeps her near the nation lead.
The lead was extended and held by a Jada Cooper solo HR and Maggie Place shutting the door in the top of the 6th inning. In the bottom half of the sixth, GCU scored five runs behind three hits, four stolen bases and chaos ball to give the Lopes the run-rule win.
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GCU relied on elite pitching and a timely home run from none other than Makaiya Gomez, to beat the Beavers.
The dynamic pair of "Meg and Maggie" caused problems for the Oregon State hitters, despite a tight zone. Meghan Golden made the start, going four innings and just allowing a pair of hits. Maggie Place kept pace, allowing just one hit in the final three innings and earning her sixth win on the season – a team high.
The Lopes battled offensively, not getting a hit until the third inning, when sophomore shortstop Mackenzie Nolan singled down the left field line. GCU would eventually outhit the Beavers 6-3 in the contest.
The fifth inning began with graduate outfielder Mia Weckel singling and eventually stealing second base. Satcher and Kirk both struck out with her in scoring position, moving the 0-0 tie to the sixth.
That's when Makaiya Gomez came through for Grand Canyon.
On an 0-2 count, with one out in the bottom-half of the inning, Gomez lined one out of the park to left-center field for a solo home run. It was her sixth on the year.
"Last year I was not hitting the outside pitch all that well," said Gomez. "This offseason we put a lot of work in to hitting at every part of the plate and the work is paying off."
The solo shot would end up being all the Lopes needed to grab the 1-0 win and move to 15-3 on the season. GCU has won three straight, finding different ways to win, night in and night out.
GCU has one final test this weekend, a meeting with UTEP on Sunday morning at 11:30 AM. The Miners pitching coach Ariel Thompson is a name that should ring a bell for most Lopes fans, as she is near the top of most pitching record books for Grand Canyon and a player that was a part of all three GCU, NCAA Tournament runs.
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GCU (15-3), coming off a 10-2 win over Utah State on Friday night, continued its hot start to the season with an 11-3 win over Yale in six innings and 1-0 nail-biter over Oregon State in the nightcap.
"We picked up our energy when we needed to in game one," Lopes head coach Shanon Hays said. "The pitching really stood out to me in game two. Meg (Golden) and Maggie (Place) gave us a great combo with Meg throwing up and Maggie throwing down and keep batters off balance all night."
In just his fourth season, Hays achieved his 150th win at Grand Canyon in the win over Yale.
Game 1: GCU beats Yale (11-3, 6 inn.)
The Lopes took game one of the double header behind a four-hit night from Savannah Kirk and three home runs from three players who are making a habit of going deep so far this season.Junior Taryn Batterton started in the circle, going five innings and allowing four hits and two runs. She moved to 5-1 on the season, securing another three strikeouts on the night.
GCU got on the board in the 1st inning due to the "old reliable" combination of sophomore Savannah Kirk and graduate outfielder Makaiya Gomez. Kirk, did what she does best: singling to left field. Gomez followed suit, hitting her team-best 5th home run of the season in a no-doubter to right field.Â
After a pair of Yale runs tied the game up at two, the Lopes got back to business in the fourth inning. Senior third-baseman Lovey Kepa'a doubled and eventually scored on a blast to right-center field from Alina Satcher. Satcher now has three hits on the year and in her collegiate career, and they are all home runs. Satcher's three homers have all come in the last week.
Another Kirk single and stolen base followed by a Sydney McCray double, made the score 5-2 through four innings. GCU racked up another eight stolen bases in the game, tying their D-1 record of stolen bases that was set last weekend against Portland State. McCray added three herself, giving her eleven on the year. Kirk and Gomez also stole two apiece. Savannah Kirk's 17 stolen bases keeps her near the nation lead.
The lead was extended and held by a Jada Cooper solo HR and Maggie Place shutting the door in the top of the 6th inning. In the bottom half of the sixth, GCU scored five runs behind three hits, four stolen bases and chaos ball to give the Lopes the run-rule win.
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Game 2 – GCU beats Oregon State 1-0
GCU relied on elite pitching and a timely home run from none other than Makaiya Gomez, to beat the Beavers.
The dynamic pair of "Meg and Maggie" caused problems for the Oregon State hitters, despite a tight zone. Meghan Golden made the start, going four innings and just allowing a pair of hits. Maggie Place kept pace, allowing just one hit in the final three innings and earning her sixth win on the season – a team high.
The Lopes battled offensively, not getting a hit until the third inning, when sophomore shortstop Mackenzie Nolan singled down the left field line. GCU would eventually outhit the Beavers 6-3 in the contest.
The fifth inning began with graduate outfielder Mia Weckel singling and eventually stealing second base. Satcher and Kirk both struck out with her in scoring position, moving the 0-0 tie to the sixth.
That's when Makaiya Gomez came through for Grand Canyon.
On an 0-2 count, with one out in the bottom-half of the inning, Gomez lined one out of the park to left-center field for a solo home run. It was her sixth on the year.
"Last year I was not hitting the outside pitch all that well," said Gomez. "This offseason we put a lot of work in to hitting at every part of the plate and the work is paying off."
The solo shot would end up being all the Lopes needed to grab the 1-0 win and move to 15-3 on the season. GCU has won three straight, finding different ways to win, night in and night out.
GCU has one final test this weekend, a meeting with UTEP on Sunday morning at 11:30 AM. The Miners pitching coach Ariel Thompson is a name that should ring a bell for most Lopes fans, as she is near the top of most pitching record books for Grand Canyon and a player that was a part of all three GCU, NCAA Tournament runs.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Batterton, Taryn (5-1)
L: Caitlin LaFerney (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Isabella Fortini 1
HR: Lauren Perren 1
RBI: Elena Ohe 2 ; Lauren Perren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ella Cross 1 ; Lauren Perren 1 ; Alex Perren 1
HBP: Ava Kang 1 ; Isabella Fortini 1
Batting:
2B: McCray, Sydney 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1 ; Kepa'a, Lovey 1
HR: Gomez, Makaiya 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Satcher, Alina 1
RBI: McCray, Sydney 1 ; Gomez, Makaiya 3 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Kepa'a, Lovey 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 1 ; Satcher, Alina 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kirk, Savannah 3 ; McCray, Sydney 1 ; Gomez, Makaiya 2 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Wolsky, Haley 1 ; Weckel, Mia 1 ; Williams, Briah 1 ; Satcher, Alina 1
SB: Kirk, Savannah 2 ; McCray, Sydney 3 ; Gomez, Makaiya 2 ; Williams, Briah 1
HBP: Cooper, Jada 1 ; Weckel, Mia 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
3
H
4
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
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