GCU wins 2 behind strong pitching

Friday, April 4

Phoenix, Ariz.

4:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

28-6, 0

Southern Utah

9-20, 0

Southern Utah

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Brayden Stenner/GCU

4/4/2025 10:30:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

Golden throws complete game shutout in home nightcap

By: Braden Dohrmann

Grand Canyon (29-6, 8-2 WAC) beat Southern Utah (9-21, 4-7 WAC) behind stellar pitching in both games of the Friday doubleheader at GCU Softball Stadium.

Game 1: GCU beats Southern Utah 6-3

The Lopes led the Thunderbirds 4-3 after one inning of play. That score did not change again until the bottom of the sixth when former Southern Utah infielder and current Lopes clean-up hitter Emily Gonzalez laced a two-run homer to left field to extend the lead to 6-3.

GCU junior starting pitcher Taryn Batterton went six innings in her 13th start of the season. She allowed the three-run first inning, but each run was unearned after a pair of errors.

The top of the first was a bit chaotic for the Lopes as Thunderbirds leadoff Michaella Salvatierra made her way to third base to lead off the game when Batterton airmailed a throw to first base. A couple singles and a fielding error at shortstop put three runs on the board for the Southern Utah.

GCU answered with four runs in the bottom half of the frame. Walks from sophomoire second baseman Savannah Kirk and graduate left fielder Mia Weckel began the inning. An RBI single from freshman designated playerJada Cooper and an RBI double from sophomore catcher Tinley Lucas helped the Lopes jump out to a lead.

Kirk snatched two stolen bases in the first and added a third later in the game. It marked her fourth three-steal game of the season.

Cooper reached base in all four of her at bats with two hits and two walks in Game 1. The 3-5 hitters all secured two hits apiece.

One of those batters was Gonzalez, who faced her former squad for the first time. Gonzalez helped jog their memory about her prowess at the plate, hitting a two-run laser over the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth to give the Lopes the 6-3 lead that they would hold for the win.

Freshman pitcher Oakley Vickers earned her first save of the season in the seventh inning, striking out a batter in the process. Batterton moved to 12-1 on the season, extending her WAC lead in wins.

Game 2: GCU beats Southern Utah 4-0

GCU clinched the series win with a Game 2 shutout victory behind a complete-game shutout from WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year Meghan Golden.

Golden moved to 9-0 on the season with a 0.75 ERA, which ranks fourth in the nation with seven earned runs in 65 innings. She is riding a new scoreless streak that has reached 18 innings. She just allowed two hits and a walk Friday, striking out six in the contest.

The Lopes offense did not put together any big innings, just accumulating five hits in Game 2 and scoring one run in each inning between the third and the sixth.

Kirk was the lone Lope to have multiple hits and added her 33rd stolen base. She moves to fourth in the nation in stolen bases but extends her lead for most steals without being caught.

Kirk had 63 hits and 19 stolen bases in her WAC Freshman of the Year campaign. After 35 games this season, she has 61 hits and 33 stolen bases. Her average sits at .513, also among the best in the country.

Kirk is two stolen bases away from passing Hannah Burnett (34 in 2023) for second most in a Lopes season behind GCU and WAC record-holder Gianna Nicoletti (51 in 2022).

In a first-inning run of small-ball, Kirk singled and stole, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by junior center fielder Sydney McCray, and scored on graduate right fielder Makaiya Gomez's sacrifice fly to center field.

In the fourth, three walks in a row scored the second GCU run. Sophomore Alina Satcher pinch hit for a walk with the bases loaded on a full count.

The fifth inning added another Lopes run, starting with Gonzalez reaching on a fielding error before Cooper doubled down the left-field line. Lucas hit a sacrifice fly, scoring the pinch-running freshman Macie Selfors.

In the sixth frame, freshman third baseman Willa Ford scored after her second walk of the game. A sacrifice bunt by sophomore shortstop Mackenzie Nolan moved her to second and she scored after a Kirk hit and Southern Utah error.

GCU and Southern Utah play Game 3 of the series at noon Saturday at GCU Softball Stadium. The Lopes go for their second consecutive three-game sweep and look to build on their new lead in the WAC after Seattle U dropped both ends of its Friday doubleheader with California Baptist.