Senior Day success gives Lopes 5th straight sweep

Saturday, April 26

Phoenix, Ariz.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

40-6, 18-2

Utah Tech

15-33, 6-18

Utah Tech

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Sebastian Molinar

4/26/2025 4:18:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Golden earns save in final appearance at GCU Softball Stadium

By: Braden Dohrmann

Grand Canyon took home its fifth consecutive sweep in WAC play and 40th win of the season, taking down Utah Tech 6-4 in its GCU Softball Stadium season finale.

After the game, Lopes seniors Mia Weckel, Alexis Soto, Emily Darwin, Lovey Kepa'a, Makaiya Gomez and Meghan Golden were honored for their contributions to the red-hot program.

GCU (40-6, 18-2 WAC) has won 17 games in a row, the longest active winning streak in the nation and extending the program-record win streak that was 12. GCU has won 40 games three years in a row after winning 39 in the first year of head coach Shanon Hays' regime. The Lopes have won 30 home games in back-to-back seasons, finishing at 30-6 in GCU Softball Stadium this season for the best home record in GCU's Division I era.

Darwin made her second start of the season in the circle, with Soto getting the start behind the plate. Kepa'a made her first start at shortstop this season. Weckel and Gomez, who are graduates, started in the corner outfield spots that they have called home all season.

Freshman left-hander Oakley Vickers received the win, going 3 2/3 innings in relief with one run allowed on two hits. She moved to 4-0 on the season after grabbing two wins this weekend.

Offensively, the Lopes jumped out to an early lead on junior first baseman Emily Gonzalez's two-run, opposite-field home run. Her ninth jack of the season was her second on the weekend and more than she hit in her previous two seasons combined. She tagged on a third RBI with a third-inning single that scored sophomore second baseman Savannah Kirk. Gonzalez had seven RBIs in the series and moved her batting average to .392 in the Lopes' cleanup spot.

Kirk may have put the WAC Player of the Year conversation away for good. She reached base four times on the day with two hits and two walks. She secured two hits in each game of the series, only getting out one time. That brought her batting average back over .500 at a mind-boggling .503 with three regular season games to go. Her on-base percentage is now at .552, and she stole two more bases on Saturday, making her 40 for 40 on steals this season.

Following the Gonzalez RBIs, Kirk and junior pinch-hitter Arriana Wright added RBI singles. Wright pinch-hit for an RBI in each game of the series.

GCU freshman third baseman Willa Ford joined Kirk and Gonzalez with two hits, bringing her average up to .352 after a 4-for-7 weekend from the Oklahoma native.

After junior right-hander Maggie Place took over for an inning for Vickers, Golden took the Lopes home. Down to the final out in the top of the seventh, Golden struck out Utah Tech's Kennedy Embrey to leave the bases loaded in a two-run game.

The Lopes can expect to remain among the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 after a 3-0 weekend that outscored the Trailblazers 24-9.

The GCU offense is hitting .350 with six every-day players above a .400 on-base percentage. The pitching staff, which ranked second in the country in ERA, holds a 1.89 ERA.

GCU finishes the regular season on the road with a three-game set at Abilene Christian on May 2-3. With the WAC regular-season title and WAC Tournament No. 1 seed locked up, the Lopes will look to continue their record-breaking win streak into the postseason.

Senior Day scripts:

No. 1, Mia Weckel

Weckel arrived this season to Grand Canyon after stops at Cal State Fullerton and Yavapai College. She has provided an instant impact at the top of the lineup and defensively in left field.

Weckel has played in every game this season, hitting .342 with a .420 on-base percentage. She has scored 41 runs, which is second most on the team and has seven stolen bases. Weckel has been a doubles machine this season, as she is the only player on the team with double-digit doubles (11). Defensively, she catches everything down the left-field line, whether it is fair or foul. As one of the older players on the team, Weckel has provided a great model of work ethic and a veteran presence in the locker room.

No. 5, Alexis Soto

Soto joined the Lopes after a two-year stint at Liberty, and the Huntington Beach, California, native has been a part of two of the most successful seasons in program history on back-to-back WAC championship teams.

After battling injury for much of the 2024 season, Soto has been a key player off the bench in 2025, both behind the plate and as a pinch hitter this season. She has started five games at catcher this season and has three hits in conference play so far this season. More importantly, Soto has been a great leader in the dugout for the younger players on the team.

No. 10, Emily Darwin

Darwin has been with Grand Canyon for three years after her freshman season at Yavapai. She has enjoyed plenty of success over her career, especially in the postseason, pitching in the biggest win in program history over UCLA in the 2023 Los Angeles Regional and getting the save over San Diego State in last year's Los Angles Regional. Who can forget when she threw the program's first perfect game on Feb. 11, 2023 against Green Bay?

This season, Darwin has been a leader within the pitching staff, mainly pitching in the back end of games and helping one of the best pitching staffs in the nation continue to grind through the season. Darwin has been a great veteran presence for the team this season, a pinch runner and even was a pinch-hitter Friday night.

No. 33, Lovey Kepa'a

Kepa'a has been a Lope for three seasons after a brief stint at Yavapai. She has been a consistent player and leader through those three seasons. In 2023, Kepa'a appeared in 40 games, fielding 1.000. Last season, she started 48 games, hitting six home runs on the year.

This season, Kepa'a is getting on base at a .402 clip and went yard in her sole at bat Friday night after being sidelined by injury for a month. Kepa'a is one of the best defenders the Lopes have ever had. The sure-handed third baseman has made many memorable plays at the hot corner over the years, always on top of bunts and rarely making errors. She has a .972 career fielding percentage. We'll miss the island vibes and the vlogs.

No. 17, Makaiya Gomez

Gomez is in her second season at Grand Canyon after stops at Utah and South Mountain Community College. Gomez has started almost every game since she's been at GCU, as a mainstay in the outfield. In 2024, Gomez hit an impressive .337 in 64 games. She hit a very memorable home run in the WAC Tournament championship game in Seattle

Gomez has raked in 2025, hitting .363 with nine home runs and 44 RBIs. She has had clutch home runs in several games this season, including at home against in-state foes Arizona State and Arizona, as well as a game-winning shot against Oregon State. Gomez will be remembered as a leader in the clubhouse that led by example each day.

No. 29, Meghan Golden

Golden is in Year 3 at Grand Canyon after her freshman season at Northern Colorado. The right-hander from Peoria, Arizona, will go down as one of the best pitchers in program history, making All-WAC as a sophomore and as a junior, leading the WAC in strikeouts in 2023 and tossing four complete-game shutouts in 2024. Her complete-game regional win against Virginia Tech sent the Lopes to their first-ever NCAA regional final and will never be forgotten.

This season, she has the second-best ERA in the nation with a 12-0 record on the year. Golden holds the program's all-time best ERA, and all three of her single-season ERAs at Grand Canyon are in the top five in program history. Golden will leave a legacy atop the Lopes rotation and will be missed by everyone in the program.