WAC 4-peat powered by Place pitching, Gonzalez HR

Saturday, May 10

Riverside, Calif.

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

46-6

(2) Tarleton State

36-22

Lopes

Tarleton State

Photo by: Bryce Wheeler

5/10/2025 5:25:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

Box Score

11th-inning blast gives win to sophomore pitcher for 8 shutout relief innings

By: Paul Coro

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – This legendary era of Grand Canyon softball sprouted another legacy Saturday for a four-peat WAC Tournament championship.

Amid triple-digit heat in a 3 1/2-hour classic, the Lopes played with guts and captured glory with a legendary story. GCU sophomore pitcher Maggie Place mesmerized Tarleton State over eight shutout relief innings, setting up junior Emily Gonzalez's icy, 11th-inning home run in a 4-3 WAC Tournament championship win.

The 24th-ranked Lopes kept the nation's best winning percentage (46-6, .885), longest active winning streak (23 games) and best team ERA (1.73) by grinding to snap a 3-3 tie over the final eight innings until they could storm the field holding up four fingers as four-time champions.

GCU's NCAA regional fate will be announced Sunday on an ESPN2 selection show at 4 p.m. (Phoenix time).

The Lopes boasted an NCAA regional resume regardless but bolstered it Saturday in the Inland Empire with a hero from within it.

Emily Gonzalez

Tarleton State left-hander Shelby Schultz shut out GCU for 7 1/3 innings until Gonzalez looked for a screwball down on the 11th inning's first pitch. The native of nearby Yucaipa, California, walloped it over the center-field wall, breaking a tie that stood since the third inning.

The heat-hammered Lopes re-energized in bounding out of their dugout to greet Gonzalez with exuberance that could be heard all the way to Yucaipa.

"I was just trying to get something going," said Gonzalez, the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after a 3-for-9 tourney with four walks and her career-high 11th home run. "That was definitely one of the best swings I've had in my past three years in college … at just the right time.

"I'll never forget this moment. It's crazy epic. I'll always remember it. My team yelling for me will stick with me forever. Seeing my team and celebrating at home plate was amazing."

Place held the tie in place, keeping Tarleton State off-balance with her off-speed and drop pitches during the longest WAC Tournament championship game since 1991.

"Maggie's the great matchup for Tarleton," said GCU coach Shanon Hays, who already led the WAC Tournament's first three-peat before adding a fourth title Saturday. "She had her slow curve – we call it her 'slurpee' – working. When she has that, it's so frustrating to wait on it. With that and her drop working, she's really tough. It's nice for her to catch that rhythm right now."

Maggie Place

Place, part of the GCU staff's nation-leading ERA (1.73), allowed only five hits without walking a batter over her eight shutout innings. Coming off 2 2/3 no-hit innings vs. Tarleton State on Friday, Place improved to 10-3 this season on Saturday with a season-high five strikeouts and only 26 balls among her 95 pitches.

"It was really hot, but it worked out," said Place, a Washington, Oklahoma, native who pitched at Division II Oklahoma Baptist last season. "I tried to take my time between pitches and not go fast. Breathe and keep it in my timing.

"I felt like I could've kept going."

The rest of the game's scoring occurred in the game's first 2 1/2 innings. GCU scored two in the top of the first inning off three walks and a dropped infield pop-up, but second-seeded Tarleton State (36-22) answered with a two-run bottom half of the first.

The Texans took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Lopes answered when Gonzalez walked and sophomore pinch-runner Haley Wolsky moved to second on a walk and stole third by timing her start to when the catcher began her return throw to the pitcher.

GCU freshman third baseman Willa Ford, who became a full-time starter for the last 22 games of the Lopes' 23-game winning streak, drilled a RBI sacrifice fly to center field to score Wolsky for a 3-3 tie.

"Coach Hays told me that my time was going to come as long as I put in the work, and it paid off," said Ford, the Edmond, Oklahoma, native who is batting .457 over the past 12 games. "It's a great experience.

"I told you, 'I'm not losing to Tarleton again. We're not losing again.' Every since I said that, we haven't lost. I refuse to lose anymore."

GCU stayed undefeated since losing a March 21-22 series at Tarleton State by defeating the Texans in consecutive error-free WAC Tournament games. With web gems around the scorching turf field Saturday, the Lopes have not committed an error in 44 consecutive innings.

Hays celebration cooler

"I didn't say anything about it," Hays said of the GCU's last loss on March 22 in Stephenville, Texas. "I didn't have to. I heard all the chatter leading up to those games."

Tarleton State exited in order on three 11th-inning ground balls to make GCU the only program besides New Mexico State with four WAC Tournament championships. This was the Lopes' seventh WAC Tournament since joining Division I.

"We hate losing," Gonazlez said. "We knew we would pull through."

The Lopes have completed their case for a regional No. 2 seed when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed Sunday. Outside of its WAC dominance, GCU beat Arizona State twice, recorded quality victories against Washington and Iowa State and tested Florida and Arizona.

"We'll see if we're a 2 or a 3 seed," Hays said. "I think this team deserves to be a 2 seed with our ranking and our RPI. We'll see if we get any respect. If we don't, no big deal. We're used to it."