Lopes earn 3rd straight shutout, beat Panthers 4-0

Sunday, March 1

Phoenix, Ariz.

11:30 a.m.

Grand Canyon

22-0

Eastern Illinois

5-16

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Eastern Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
Grand Canyon	0	2	0	0	0	2	X	4	7	0

Photo by: Bryce Fairchild

3/1/2026 3:10:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

At 22-0, GCU is 1 of 3 undefeated teams in the nation

By: Braden Dohrmann

Grand Canyon capped its fourth weekend of play with a 4-0 win over Eastern Illinois on Sunday, giving the Lopes a nation-best record of 22-0.

GCU earned its third straight shutout win of the season behind a pitcher-by-committee approach going seven innings and just allowing four hits at GCU Softball Stadium.

Lopes freshman Abi Jones made her first career start in the circle, facing the order one time for 2 2/3 innings of one-hit work. She was replaced by the eventual winner, sophomore left-hander Oakley Vickers, who moved to 7-0 for three innings with three strikeouts.

GCU senior right-hander Taryn Batterton finished the Panthers off with an inning and a third of work to earn her first save of the season.

"We wanted to get each girl a couple innings of work and wanted to set up matchups throughout the lineup to really replicate how we may be able to use them later in the year," Lopes head coach Shanon Hays said.

Coming into the weekend, the Lopes' pitching staff was ranked third in the nation in ERA, so four shutouts in six games will likely only help the overall staff's stats moving forward.

Offensively, the Lopes strung across seven hits, garnering two-hit performances from redshirt freshman shortstop Haley Wilkinson and senior designated player Emily Gonzalez.

Wilkinson turned 20 on Sunday and showed up in a big way for Grand Canyon. In the second inning, she hammered a ball to the right-center field gap, nailing the very top of the wall for an RBI double to bring in the first run of the game.

Freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf picked up her middle infield partner with a two-out double down the left-field line, plating Wilkinson.

GCU did not score again until the sixth, when Gonzalez smoked her second hit of the day into left field to score runners on second and third with two outs. Gonzalez won the 12-pitch at-bat and drove in her 15th and 16th runs of the season.

Grand Canyon now stands as one of three teams in the country with an undefeated record through four weeks of play. North Carolina dropped the third game of its series with Boston College, reducing the list to GCU, top-ranked Tennessee (19-0) and seventh-ranked Alabama (20-0).

The Lopes finally hit the road next weekend, with five games in San Diego on the campuses of San Diego and San Diego State.

GCU will face Notre Dame twice, play Princeton and have rematches with San Diego and Wisconsin on deck.

"We have proven we can win at home," Hays said. "Now we want to go prove we can win on the road. This is a young team in some ways, so this is a great opportunity to cut our teeth and learn new things about this roster before conference play."

No. 25 GCU will await the national rankings' Tuesday update to see if its fourth consecutive undefeated weekend earned enough votes to move up in the polls.