GCU comes from behind, beats San Diego 7-5

Saturday, March 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

19-3

San Diego

10-15

San Diego

Grand Canyon

3/8/2025 11:00:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Lopes 1-4 hitters record 2 hits apiece for 19th victory

By: Braden Dohrmann

Grand Canyon scored six unanswered runs to come back and win its seventh consecutive game Saturday night in Phoenix.

GCU (19-3) trailed San Diego 5-1 after an inning and a half of play. Sophomore Maggie Place got the start for the Lopes and struggled to escape jams created by the defense and walks.

In the first inning, Place should have gone three and out, but USD's Carly Ruiz reached on a Savannah Kirk throwing error. Kirk's toss to first base sailed wide, and the Lopes immediately paid for it.

On a 1-2 pitch with two outs, Toreros first baseman Taylor Johnson hit a no-doubter to left field, giving San Diego a first-inning lead.

The Lopes answered with a run in the bottom half of the first inning, with singles from Gonzalez, junior Sydney McCray, and graduate outfielder Makaiya Gomez. Gomez's single scored McCray.

McCray made her return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous two games. McCray, along with her fellow 1-4 hitters in the order, all managed two hits apiece. The top of the lineup set the tone offensively.

The top of the lineup is collectively on a hitting tear this weekend. Kirk, Gonzalez and Cooper have multiple hits in three straight games, with all three tying Kirk's multi-hit streak from the beginning of the season.

The Torero lineup got to Place in the second inning, scoring three runs on three hits and a pair of walks. GCU junior Taryn Batterton entered the game in the third inning.

Batterton and Lopes senior pitcher Meghan Golden held San Diego scoreless the remaining five innings. Batteron went 3 1/3 innings, striking out three and earning the win to move to 7-1. She is the first pitcher on the staff to get to seven wins.

Golden earned her first save of the seasons, getting five outs to end the game. She just allowed one hit and still has not surrendered a run in eight consecutive appearances (28 innings).

Offensively, GCU came back from two chunk innings in the third and fifth frames. In the third inning, the Lopes opened the inning up with three straight singles from the 2-4 hitters in the lineup. Graduate outfielder Mia Weckel scored two runners later in the inning when she doubled down the left-field line.

The Lopes trailed 5-4 until their next slate of runs came home in the fifth inning. In the fifth, GCU took advantage of a couple errors with multiple clutch hits. Cooper led the inning off with a single. She got to third when Gomez lined into left field and the USD left fielder dropped the ball, bringing Gomez to second base. After a couple fielder's choice play, one of which scored a run: GCU's Alina Satcher pinch hit and came through again, breaking the 5-5 tie with a line-drive single to center field. Satcher has a .417 batting average to start the season.

Kirk brought the seventh runner home when she scorched a liner at the third baseman, who could not react in time to make a play.

GCU has won seven consecutive games, its longest win streak all year. The Lopes are back in action Sunday at 11:30 a.m. when they take on UNLV in a game that was rescheduled from Friday night. The Lopes no longer play Utah State on Sunday, as was previously scheduled.