Completed Event: Softball versus UC Santa Barbara on February 22, 2026 , Win , 6, to, 1
Softball
vs UC Santa Barbara
W 6-1
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, February 27
Phoenix, Ariz.
4 p.m.
Grand Canyon
18-0
13
vs
5
CSU Bakersfield
2-15
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
CSU Bakersfield
0
0
1
1
3
5
6
2
Grand Canyon
1
5
5
2
X
13
11
1
Photo by: Jayden Todd
Close win over Wisconsin brings GCU to 19-0
2/27/2026 11:15:00 PM | Softball
Lopes score 22 on 27 hits in Friday doubleheader
Grand Canyon added another two wins to their historic start of the season, with a run-rule dub over Cal State Bakersfield and a 9-8 win over Wisconsin.
The Lopes bats exploded for a total of 22 runs on 27 hits between the two games. GCU now sits at 19-0, just four wins from tying the program record win streak of 23 games, set just last season. Grand Canyon is one of four undefeated teams in the nation after Florida fell to UCLA earlier in the day.
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The Lopes dominated the Roadrunners from start to finish, scoring five runs in the second and third innings, before letting the young players on the roster get some action in the field and at the plate.
Maggie Place went just three innings, only allowing a run in her start. Thanks to the minimum requirement for a win just being those three innings, in a five-inning win, Place moved to 3-0 on the season. She struck out a pair.
The top of the lineup was the story of the day offensively, as McCray and Holtorf manufactured and finished off many big innings for the Lopes. In the bottom of the first, McCray walked, stole second, and scored on an amazing hustle play. The play in question was a sacrifice bunt from the freshman Raegan Holtorf. McCray easily moved to third on the perfect bunt that ended up being a hit, but the senior outfielder never broke stride around third, heading home and barely sliding in safely to score the first run.
"All I want to do is get on base and grab extra bases for my team," said McCray. "I want to let my speed do the talking. I can go on a slump at the plate, but my speed will never slump."
McCray tallied four stolen bases between the two games on the evening, bringing her total to 13- without being caught.
Holtorf's bunt single in the first would end up being overlooked, as the second baseman added hits in the second and third innings as well. She doubled with two outs and runners on second and third to score two in the 2nd inning. She homered in the third inning, scoring McCray with each RBI hit.Â
The big fly was her second of the season and she finished game one with four RBI's.
"Hitting behind Syd makes life so much easier for me," said Holtorf. "She frees me up by always getting on base and usually getting to second base. I just want to do what my team needs from me in those situations. Whether that is bunting or moving her closer to home with a ground ball."
Emily Gonzalez added an RBI double of her own in the second inning on the heels of the Holtorf double. Gonzalez had one hit in each game, each of them RBI doubles scoring a run.
Sophomore third baseman Ellie Pond hammered her second home run of the year just batters before Holtorf's. The three-run tank was the highlight of the former Salt Lake CC transfer's 2/2 game against Bakersfield.
Pond added another hit in the nightcap with Wisconsin. Despite a slower start at the plate, the night's events brought Pond's batting average to .333 on the season.
Maybe the biggest highlight of game one was three players' first career collegiate hits. In the fourth inning, sophomore Briah Williams and freshmen McKinsey Beyer and Izzy Rueda all picked up their first hits of their promising young careers.
Freshmen Lilly Camp and Abi Jones finished the game out in the circle.
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The nightcap brought long balls, hits galore and late-game intensity.
The Badgers made a game out of it, as another fast start by GCU seemingly had the game all but wrapped up in the third inning.
In the first inning, Wisconsin walked and earned two hits off GCU's starter Natalie Fritz, scoring the game's opening run. It was just the second time all season the Lopes allowed a run in the first inning.
GCU responded in the best way they could have, scoring three of their own. Singles from the McCray / Holtorf tandem led to the aforementioned Gonzalez RBI double. Jada Cooper picked up an RBI groundout before freshman Addison Shifflett doubled in the third run.
Shifflett went 2/2 in game one with her first career triple and a double. Her hit in game two gave her three on the evening and boosted her team-best batting average to .442.
The Lopes hit a season-best 16 hits against Wisconsin, the first time GCU had done so since their road series in Utah Valley last season.
McCray went 4/4 at the top of the lineup with three singles and a double to deep left field.
"I worked super hard on swinging away in the fall, "continued McCray. "To see that hard work is a great feeling and helps me be the multi-dimensional player I want to be."
"Syd was dominant today and last night," said head coach Shanon Hays. "Hopefully she keeps doing what she does, she has been hitting the ball at a phenomenal rate, but I also think of her as one of the best base runners in the country."
McCray is hitting .400 through 19 games, leading the team in hits with 22.
Haley Wilkinson snagged the first three-hit game of her career, scoring two runs herself Friday night.
One of her hits was a leadoff double in the second, where she would immediately come around to score on McCray's RBI double.
The third inning saw catcher Tinley Lucas' first long ball of the season, an absolute bomb to left-center field. Lucas had two hits on the game with three RBI's.
Wisconsin, trailing 7-2 heading into the fourth inning showed tons of fight, scoring three the very next inning and another three in the sixth inning to bring the game to 9-8, behind Badger catcher Hilary Blomberg's second homer of the night.
The Lopes pitched by committee, with sophomore Oakley Vickers earning the win due to her 2.1 IP in relief behind Natalie Fritz's one inning start. Abi Jones entered in the fourth, while Taryn Batterton despite her trouble in the sixth, eventually closed the door on Wisconsin's upset aspirations.
The 19-0, No. 25-ranked Lopes return to action for two more games with Eastern Illinois and UC Riverside on Saturday evening.
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The Lopes bats exploded for a total of 22 runs on 27 hits between the two games. GCU now sits at 19-0, just four wins from tying the program record win streak of 23 games, set just last season. Grand Canyon is one of four undefeated teams in the nation after Florida fell to UCLA earlier in the day.
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Grand Canyon 13 – CSU Bakersfield 5
The Lopes dominated the Roadrunners from start to finish, scoring five runs in the second and third innings, before letting the young players on the roster get some action in the field and at the plate.
Maggie Place went just three innings, only allowing a run in her start. Thanks to the minimum requirement for a win just being those three innings, in a five-inning win, Place moved to 3-0 on the season. She struck out a pair.
The top of the lineup was the story of the day offensively, as McCray and Holtorf manufactured and finished off many big innings for the Lopes. In the bottom of the first, McCray walked, stole second, and scored on an amazing hustle play. The play in question was a sacrifice bunt from the freshman Raegan Holtorf. McCray easily moved to third on the perfect bunt that ended up being a hit, but the senior outfielder never broke stride around third, heading home and barely sliding in safely to score the first run.
"All I want to do is get on base and grab extra bases for my team," said McCray. "I want to let my speed do the talking. I can go on a slump at the plate, but my speed will never slump."
McCray tallied four stolen bases between the two games on the evening, bringing her total to 13- without being caught.
Holtorf's bunt single in the first would end up being overlooked, as the second baseman added hits in the second and third innings as well. She doubled with two outs and runners on second and third to score two in the 2nd inning. She homered in the third inning, scoring McCray with each RBI hit.Â
The big fly was her second of the season and she finished game one with four RBI's.
"Hitting behind Syd makes life so much easier for me," said Holtorf. "She frees me up by always getting on base and usually getting to second base. I just want to do what my team needs from me in those situations. Whether that is bunting or moving her closer to home with a ground ball."
Emily Gonzalez added an RBI double of her own in the second inning on the heels of the Holtorf double. Gonzalez had one hit in each game, each of them RBI doubles scoring a run.
Sophomore third baseman Ellie Pond hammered her second home run of the year just batters before Holtorf's. The three-run tank was the highlight of the former Salt Lake CC transfer's 2/2 game against Bakersfield.
Pond added another hit in the nightcap with Wisconsin. Despite a slower start at the plate, the night's events brought Pond's batting average to .333 on the season.
Maybe the biggest highlight of game one was three players' first career collegiate hits. In the fourth inning, sophomore Briah Williams and freshmen McKinsey Beyer and Izzy Rueda all picked up their first hits of their promising young careers.
Freshmen Lilly Camp and Abi Jones finished the game out in the circle.
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Grand Canyon 9 – Wisconsin 8Â
The nightcap brought long balls, hits galore and late-game intensity.
The Badgers made a game out of it, as another fast start by GCU seemingly had the game all but wrapped up in the third inning.
In the first inning, Wisconsin walked and earned two hits off GCU's starter Natalie Fritz, scoring the game's opening run. It was just the second time all season the Lopes allowed a run in the first inning.
GCU responded in the best way they could have, scoring three of their own. Singles from the McCray / Holtorf tandem led to the aforementioned Gonzalez RBI double. Jada Cooper picked up an RBI groundout before freshman Addison Shifflett doubled in the third run.
Shifflett went 2/2 in game one with her first career triple and a double. Her hit in game two gave her three on the evening and boosted her team-best batting average to .442.
The Lopes hit a season-best 16 hits against Wisconsin, the first time GCU had done so since their road series in Utah Valley last season.
McCray went 4/4 at the top of the lineup with three singles and a double to deep left field.
"I worked super hard on swinging away in the fall, "continued McCray. "To see that hard work is a great feeling and helps me be the multi-dimensional player I want to be."
"Syd was dominant today and last night," said head coach Shanon Hays. "Hopefully she keeps doing what she does, she has been hitting the ball at a phenomenal rate, but I also think of her as one of the best base runners in the country."
McCray is hitting .400 through 19 games, leading the team in hits with 22.
Haley Wilkinson snagged the first three-hit game of her career, scoring two runs herself Friday night.
One of her hits was a leadoff double in the second, where she would immediately come around to score on McCray's RBI double.
The third inning saw catcher Tinley Lucas' first long ball of the season, an absolute bomb to left-center field. Lucas had two hits on the game with three RBI's.
Wisconsin, trailing 7-2 heading into the fourth inning showed tons of fight, scoring three the very next inning and another three in the sixth inning to bring the game to 9-8, behind Badger catcher Hilary Blomberg's second homer of the night.
The Lopes pitched by committee, with sophomore Oakley Vickers earning the win due to her 2.1 IP in relief behind Natalie Fritz's one inning start. Abi Jones entered in the fourth, while Taryn Batterton despite her trouble in the sixth, eventually closed the door on Wisconsin's upset aspirations.
The 19-0, No. 25-ranked Lopes return to action for two more games with Eastern Illinois and UC Riverside on Saturday evening.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Place, Maggie (3-0)
L: Estrada, Amber (0-5)
Batting:
2B: Narvaiz, Mari 1 ; Sanchez, Jillian 1
RBI: Narvaiz, Mari 1 ; Castro, Alexia 1 ; Castillo, Anahi 1 ; Barella, Erika 1 ; Marquez, Madison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Harrison, Aariana 1 ; Garcia, Hannah 1 ; McDanell, Alexandra 1 ; Eaton, Jayda 1 ; Visser, Kayla 1
HBP: Eaton, Jayda 1
Batting:
2B: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1
3B: Shifflett, Addison 1
HR: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Pond, Ellie 1
RBI: Holtorf, Raegan 4 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; Pond, Ellie 3 ; Williams, Briah 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1 ; Satcher, Alina 1
SH: Campbell, Sarah 1
SF: Satcher, Alina 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Martin, Trinity 1 ; Holtorf, Raegan 2 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; Rueda, Izzy 1 ; Pond, Ellie 1 ; Beyer, McKinsey 1 ; Campbell, Sarah 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 2 ; McCray, Sydney 3
SB: McCray, Sydney 3
CS: Holtorf, Raegan 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballUTIL
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
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