Comeback win keeps Lopes win streak alive

Saturday, April 19

Arlington, Texas

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

37-6, 15-2

UT Arlington

22-19, 8-10

Grand Canyon

UT Arlington

Photo by: Braden Dohrmann

4/19/2025 5:42:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Cooper’s 3-run double propels GCU to 4th consecutive sweep

By: Braden Dohrmann

ARLINGTON, Texas — Grand Canyon swept UT Arlington on Saturday, thanks to a wild sixth-inning comeback for a 4-3 win.

GCU freshman Jada Cooper's bases-clearing, two-out double completed the Lopes comeback with junior pitcher Taryn Batterton doing the rest to earn her 16th win on the year.

GCU (37-6, 15-2 WAC) has won 14 games in a row, which is tops in the nation for active streaks, as well as a program-record win streak. The Lopes have swept four consecutive series and remain undefeated on the road (10-0) this season.

Lopes sophomore Maggie Place started in the circle for Game 3, not making it out of the second inning when UTA (22-19, 8-10 WAC) brought three runners across home with a mix of hitting and Lopes defensive miscues.

After retiring the first batter in the inning, Place allowed three straight singles, which brought Batterton into the game. Batterton was welcomed with a perfectly placed bunt from Marley Neises. The throw to first was late, and a moment of hesitation from Gonzalez at first made her throw home late as Neises taking second.

After a stern meeting in the circle from head coach Shanon Hays, the Lopes escaped the messy inning with just three runs allowed.

The Lopes were quiet offensively, contradictory to the previous two games. UTA starting pitcher Jessica Adams faced the minimum through four innings and only allowed two hits through five innings.

In the sixth inning, Lopes freshman third baseman Willa Ford began the rally that will be remembered for a while because of a string of great at bats and timely hitting.

Ford singled and was followed by a hard-hit lineout to center by sophomore shortstop Mackenzie Nolan. GCU sophomore second baseman Kirk grabbed her first hit of the day with a bunt single that caused a throwing error, bringing Ford to third base.

Graduate left fielder Mia Weckel proved clutch next with a first-pitch RBI single up the middle. Smart coaching came into play next when graduate center fielder Makaiya Gomez faked a bunt, causing the third baseman to crash and leave third base open for Kirk to steal and Weckel to take second.

Next, Gomez bunted, again catching the Mavericks defense off-guard and giving her an infield single. The runners stayed put, loading the bases for the heart of the lineup with one out.

Gonzalez came to the plate with 27 walks and 10 strikeouts and battled through an eight-pitch at bat that included four foul balls. It ended in a strikeout looking at a pitch on the outside of the plate.

Cooper then stepped up to the plate with the game on the line.

She delivered. With poise at the plate like a veteran, Cooper mashed a ball to right center field. The wind caught the ball and brought it back into the gap, where the center fielder was thrown off and had to dive for the fly ball. She just missed it, as the basepaths were cleared to put GCU ahead 4-3.

Batterton finished out her 5 2/3-inning performance by striking out four batters in the final two innings.

The Lopes await the rankings and polls to come at the beginning of the week, with the best chance in program history at breaking into the ESPN/USA Softball top 25. Coming in to the week, Grand Canyon had been ranked 25th by Softball America and D1Softball for the first time ever and should continue to reside within those rankings next week.

GCU returns to action next weekend with the final home series of the season against Utah Tech on Friday and Saturday. Senior Day will be Saturday at noon (Phoenix time), giving fans a chance to recognize the Lopes' six seniors.