Lopes take perfect record into GCU Invite

Friday, February 13

Phoenix, Ariz.

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Brayden Stenner

2/12/2026 4:00:00 PM | Softball

GCU's Batterton looks to follow up 2-0 start in the circle

By: Braden Dohrmann

GCU Invite \| February 13-15, 2026 \| GCU Softball Stadium \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (5-0)	vs.	NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS (2-3)
			SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS (4-1)
			SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (2-3)
			HARVARD CRIMSON (0-0)

Grand Canyon hosts the GCU Invite where the Lopes will face four teams from across the country, including Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, South Dakota and Harvard.

HEADLINES

GCU went 5-0 in the GCU Kickoff Classic during opening weekend, beating NCAA Regional opponent, Santa Clara, twice.
Opening night vs. Weber State, marked the 5th-highest attended game in GCU Softball Stadium's history (1,252).
Junior utility player Alina Satcher homered twice in the season-opening win over Southern Utah. She finished the game with 7 RBI's, a feat that had not been done by a GCU player since 2019.
Taryn Batterton pitched two complete-game shutouts in her first two starts of the season. The senior struck out 10 vs. Santa Clara (2/8), her career high. She took home First Team All-WAC honors last season, making the NFCA All-Region 2nd Team.
The Lopes enter their first year in the Mountain West. They have gone 24-13 all-time against MW members. Hays is 9-5 with GCU.
GCU holds the 11th-best ERA in the nation after week one (1.27).
GCU returns 248 innings pitched from the 2025 season. The staff held the third-best ERA in the nation last season.
ESPN/USA Softball (27), D1Softball (27), Softball America (27), and NFCA (27) all have the Lopes just outside of their top 25 rankings, receiving votes in each ranking.
Grand Canyon has won 47 games in three straight seasons.
GCU clinched their fourth-consecutive WAC Tournament title last season, now winning 10-straight WAC Tournament games.
Junior 2B Savannah Kirk was named the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year. Kirk has since been ruled out for the year due to injury.
GCU was second in the country in comeback wins (21) in 2025.
The Lopes finished 2025 with the best winning percentage in the country (0.855).
Senior RHP Taryn Batterton, senior 1B/DP Emily Gonzalez, and sophomore UTIL Jada Cooper joined Kirk on the Mountain West Preseason Team. GCU had the most players in the league.
Emily Gonzalez made the All-WAC First Team as the Lopes cleanup hitter in 2025. "Gonzo" was named the WAC Tournament "Most Outstanding Player" after her 11th inning, go-ahead HR in the WAC Championship game. She led the team in HR's (13).
The Lopes are 1/27 teams in the country to win an NCAA Tournament game in each of the last three years.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO

Northern Colorado is 2-3 after the first weekend in southern California. The Bears started the year with a win over UC Santa Barbara and lost at No. 7 UCLA.
GCU holds a 7-0 all-time record against Northern Colorado, only ever facing them at home.

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE

The Hornets enter the weekend with a 4-1 record in the NorCal Kickoff that mostly presided at Sac State's Shea Stadium.
GCU and Sacramento State have split the all-time series at 1-1, only every playing in Sacramento.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA

The Coyotes enter with a 2-3 record. Starting the year 0-3 at the Bearkat Classic in Huntsville, Texas, South Dakota won their last two games over Sam Houston and Creighton.
GCU has a 5-2 all-time record over South Dakota, only ever playing at home.

SCOUTING HARVARD

The Crimson enter with a 0-0 record, not playing any games in the first weekend of play.
GCU has never played Harvard.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU KICKOFF CLASSIC

The Lopes launched four home runs on the first day of the tournament in a 17-2 win over Southern Utah and a 3-0 win over Weber State.
GCU walked off both Southern Utah (4-3) and Santa Clara (5-4) in Saturday's wins.
Grand Canyon's senior hander Taryn Batterton pitched her second complete-game shutout of the short season on Sunday to knock off Santa Clara, 1-0.