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Odds are with GCU when Kirk bats
5/14/2025 10:21:00 AM | Softball, Paul Coro
Lopes sophomore ranks 2nd nationaly in hitting, 5th for steals
Each time Savannah Kirk steps to the plate, the chances of her getting a hit are better than tossing heads on a coin, drawing a black playing card or rolling an even number on dice.
Kirk's offense has been better than a 50-50 proposition for Grand Canyon softball this season, making her the nation's No. 2 hitter with a .505 batting average and the WAC Player of the Year as No. 24 GCU heads to the NCAA Tucson Regional this weekend.
The Lopes' sophomore second baseman and leadoff hitter reaches base 55% of the time, and packs even more intensity into her 5-foot-4 frame after an out. That frustration becomes a determination that is making her more efficient as the season progresses, as displayed in her .559 hitting over the past nine games.
"I expect to get on base," Kirk said. "I'm just trying to help my team as much as I can. It's nice with all the accolades and whatever, but I'm really just trying to take my team as far as it can."
"I do get frustrated when I don't get on base because then I just feel like I didn't help my team. I try not to think about my batting average and stuff like that. I generally just want to get on base so I can score and we can win."
Those efforts have helped GCU to its first national top-25 ranking and the best record by winning percentage in the nation (46-6) entering Friday's 7 p.m. regional opener against No. 21 Ole Miss at Hillebrand Stadium on ESPNU.
While Kirk gives the Lopes better than a 50-50 chance at the plate, GCU head coach Shanon Hays said he was 100% certain of her potential when he recruited her out of Canyon View High School in Waddell, a Phoenix suburb about 20 miles west of GCU.
No other Division I program offered the player who has become the 2024 WAC Freshman of the Year and 2025 WAC Player of the Year. That was fine by Kirk because GCU was her goal destination all along as she developed her work ethic and her skills in high school. She committed to the Lopes before her high school junior season.
"It was easy from Day 1 when I saw Savannah, her athleticism and her passion to play the game," Hays said. "She loves to compete. It's neat to envision a player to be a certain way, and that comes to fruition. With her speed and how she sets the table for the rest of our lineup, she's been incredible. I knew she'd be good, but I didn't know she'd be this good. It's been a joy to watch."
Kirk's hitting is even more dangerous with the layer of the baserunning.
The savvy speedster has stolen 47 bases without being caught this season, making her fifth in the nation for steals and the only qualifying player who has not been caught. Including last season, Kirk has stolen 60 consecutive bases without being caught.
Kirk is four steals shy of the WAC single-season record of 51, set by GCU's Gianna Nicoletti in 2022.
"We have a lot of girls who can hit me in," said Kirk, whose sister, Sadie, is also starting at second base Friday night in an NCAA regional as a Weber State freshman playing at Oregon. "As long as I get on and then I can move around, I feel like I can help my team with speed and my ability to get on base."
Kirk hit .389 last season, second best on the team, from the seventh spot in the batting order. Her left-handed slap hitting was respected by conference coaches enough to make her WAC Preseason Player of the Year entering her sophomore season.
But with graduate Makaiya Gomez being the only other returnee among GCU's top seven hitters last seasons, Hays' expectations were tempered for this season's Lopes roster makeover. Now, GCU is 96-19 (.835) in Kirk's and Gomez's two seasons.
Kirk, who also is an outstanding defensive player at second base, is not even halfway through her Lopes career, yet she already has proved to be as clutch of a performer as any veteran.
She went 5 for 11 during last season's Los Angles Regional, helping the program reach its first regional final, and enters this weekend's four-team, double-elimination regional at Arizona after rising to the moment again last week for a 7-for-14 WAC Tournament in Riverside, California.
"I was a little nervous at first, but I trusted in the work that I put in," Kirk said of moving to the leadoff spot this season in place of last season's top hitter and current pro Ashley Trierweiler. "I got to watch Trierweiler and all the upperclassmen we had last year, so I learned from them. It's nice to go from the bottom and go up."
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Kirk's offense has been better than a 50-50 proposition for Grand Canyon softball this season, making her the nation's No. 2 hitter with a .505 batting average and the WAC Player of the Year as No. 24 GCU heads to the NCAA Tucson Regional this weekend.
The Lopes' sophomore second baseman and leadoff hitter reaches base 55% of the time, and packs even more intensity into her 5-foot-4 frame after an out. That frustration becomes a determination that is making her more efficient as the season progresses, as displayed in her .559 hitting over the past nine games."I expect to get on base," Kirk said. "I'm just trying to help my team as much as I can. It's nice with all the accolades and whatever, but I'm really just trying to take my team as far as it can."
"I do get frustrated when I don't get on base because then I just feel like I didn't help my team. I try not to think about my batting average and stuff like that. I generally just want to get on base so I can score and we can win."
Those efforts have helped GCU to its first national top-25 ranking and the best record by winning percentage in the nation (46-6) entering Friday's 7 p.m. regional opener against No. 21 Ole Miss at Hillebrand Stadium on ESPNU.
While Kirk gives the Lopes better than a 50-50 chance at the plate, GCU head coach Shanon Hays said he was 100% certain of her potential when he recruited her out of Canyon View High School in Waddell, a Phoenix suburb about 20 miles west of GCU.
No other Division I program offered the player who has become the 2024 WAC Freshman of the Year and 2025 WAC Player of the Year. That was fine by Kirk because GCU was her goal destination all along as she developed her work ethic and her skills in high school. She committed to the Lopes before her high school junior season.
"It was easy from Day 1 when I saw Savannah, her athleticism and her passion to play the game," Hays said. "She loves to compete. It's neat to envision a player to be a certain way, and that comes to fruition. With her speed and how she sets the table for the rest of our lineup, she's been incredible. I knew she'd be good, but I didn't know she'd be this good. It's been a joy to watch."
Kirk's hitting is even more dangerous with the layer of the baserunning.The savvy speedster has stolen 47 bases without being caught this season, making her fifth in the nation for steals and the only qualifying player who has not been caught. Including last season, Kirk has stolen 60 consecutive bases without being caught.
Kirk is four steals shy of the WAC single-season record of 51, set by GCU's Gianna Nicoletti in 2022.
"We have a lot of girls who can hit me in," said Kirk, whose sister, Sadie, is also starting at second base Friday night in an NCAA regional as a Weber State freshman playing at Oregon. "As long as I get on and then I can move around, I feel like I can help my team with speed and my ability to get on base."
Kirk hit .389 last season, second best on the team, from the seventh spot in the batting order. Her left-handed slap hitting was respected by conference coaches enough to make her WAC Preseason Player of the Year entering her sophomore season.
But with graduate Makaiya Gomez being the only other returnee among GCU's top seven hitters last seasons, Hays' expectations were tempered for this season's Lopes roster makeover. Now, GCU is 96-19 (.835) in Kirk's and Gomez's two seasons.
Kirk, who also is an outstanding defensive player at second base, is not even halfway through her Lopes career, yet she already has proved to be as clutch of a performer as any veteran.She went 5 for 11 during last season's Los Angles Regional, helping the program reach its first regional final, and enters this weekend's four-team, double-elimination regional at Arizona after rising to the moment again last week for a 7-for-14 WAC Tournament in Riverside, California.
"I was a little nervous at first, but I trusted in the work that I put in," Kirk said of moving to the leadoff spot this season in place of last season's top hitter and current pro Ashley Trierweiler. "I got to watch Trierweiler and all the upperclassmen we had last year, so I learned from them. It's nice to go from the bottom and go up."
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