Lopes hit 9-0 mark with pair of wins Saturday

Saturday, February 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

2:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

8-0

South Dakota

2-7

South Dakota

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Jayden Todd

2/14/2026 9:40:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

GCU transfers Fritz, Martin lead way on both ends

By: Braden Dohrmann

Grand Canyon is 9-0 after another doubleheader sweep Saturday, this time taking care of South Dakota and Northern Colorado at GCU Softball Stadium.

A Natalie Fritz complete game shutout stole the show in Game 1, with graduate outfielder Trinity Martin's two-homer game sealing a ninth consecutive win to open up the season.

GCU 1, South Dakota 0

Saturday's first game included just four hits between GCU and South Dakota, but the Lopes' lone hit manufactured the game's only run.

That run and hit came in the bottom of the first inning, as leadoff hitter Sydney McCray walked, made her way to third base on a ground out, thanks to her elite speed and effort on the basepaths, and scored on sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper's RBI single down the left-field line.

GCU reached on an error and walked four times but were unable to earn another hit over the next five frames. Luckily, Fritz is now at Grand Canyon.

Fritz, a sophomore transfer, retired the first nine batters and never looked back. She pounded the strike zone, striking out six without a walk in seven innings. She needed just 86 pitches, serving up an efficient outing.

"I felt great out there," Fritz said. "I knew with just a one-run lead, I had to stay locked in and that any small mistake could have serious consequences. My defense played great behind me."

Fritz earned the pitching staff's fourth shutout on the season and third complete-game shutout.

GCU 8, Northern Colorado 3

The bats returned in the nightcap against Northern Colorado, as GCU hit three home runs among its 10 hits.

The game started with a scare, as starting pitcher Taryn Batterton took a line drive off the lower leg with one out. She exited the game out of precaution and freshman Abi Jones entered the circle.

Jones earned the first college win, going four innings without allowing an earned run and striking out four.

The Lopes struck offensively in the second inning when freshman outfielder Addison Shifflett hit her first collegiate home run to the opposite field, bringing home the first three runs.

Shifflett went 3 for 3 on the game, almost following up the long ball with another, when she hit one off the wall in her next at bat. The freshman leads the team with a .538 batting average, although she has just started four games.

GDU graduate left fielder Trinity Martin added to the fun with a solo home run in the third inning and a three-run blast in the fifth inning.

"I am just trusting the process," Martin said of her early struggles at the plate. "I am thankful to have a coach who sticks to his promises and believes in me. Trying not to hit the long ball typically leads to me being able to do just that. Shooting for doubles and triples, gap-to-gap ball and picking good pitches to hit."

Martin tied the team lead in home runs at three with junior Alina Satcher. The graduate transfer from Virginia Tech has been hitting the ball hard, but her average is lower than her liking as a mainstay in the middle of the lineup. After the big night, she boosted it to .200 with the second-most RBIs on the team (nine).

Cooper added another RBI single to her resume, with a base knock in each end of the doubleheader. The sophomore has brought her average up to .381.

Sophomore Oakley Vickers and freshman Lilly Camp closed out the game in the circle. Camp posted a season-high two innings, striking out three.

The Lopes return to action at 11:30 a.m. Sunday for their GCU Invite finale against Harvard with aims on the first 10-0 start in program history.