Completed Event: Softball at San Diego State on April 17, 2026 , Win , 12, to, 3 , (5 inn.)
Softball
at San Diego State
W 12-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, March 13
Albuquerque, N.M.
5 p.m.
Grand Canyon
28-0, 0
7
at
2
New Mexico
12-14, 0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Canyon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
Photo by: Braden Dohrmann
Lopes win 1st Mountain West game at New Mexico
3/13/2026 10:38:00 PM | Softball
Seniors lead GCU in circle, at plate for 7-2 road victory
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Grand Canyon began its journey in the Mountain West with a Friday win, taking down New Mexico 7-2 on the road.
GCU senior Taryn Batterton earned her seventh win of the season in the circle, while seniors Sydney McCray and Emily Gonzalez led the way at the plate.
The Lopes entered Friday night's contest with just one previous road game, a win at San Diego last weekend. They now have won 15 straight regular-season road games since a 2024 loss at Arizona.
GCU struck quickly, putting baserunners on first and second immediately in the top of the first thanks to McCray's single and steal and a walk by freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf.
McCray used her speed to score the Lopes' first run when freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett dropped down a sacrifice bunt two batters later. Shifflett was barely out at first, but McCray never stopped her full-speed sprint around third base, taking an extra base at home plate for a 1-0 GCU lead.
McCray collected three hits, the only Lope with multiple hits on the evening. She scored after every hit in the leadoff spot, where she has been all season with .349 hitting and a .462 on-base percentage.
The third inning looked similar for GCU, as McCray singled and stole to start the inning again. This time, Holtorf bunted her over to third base and sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper scored McCray on a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
The evening in Albuquerque included wind gusts up to 15 mph and may have been the reason Cooper has a sacrifice fly in the scorebook rather than a home run. Off the bat, it appeared to be a long ball that would have put the Lopes ahead 3-0, but New Mexico center fielder Hayden Luderer caught the fly ball at the warning track in right-center.
Batterton, making her 11th start of the season, got through the first two frames unscathed with a strikeout and a pair of walks. In the third inning, MW Player of the Week Miracle McKenzie lined a two-run shot over the wall in left field to even the game at 2-2.
Batterton allowed three singles and struck out four to shut out the Lobos over the next three innings, putting her in line for the win thanks to the GCU offense's fourth-inning explosion.
The explosion began with senior designated player Emily Gonzalez's no-doubter to deep center field, her fifth home run of the season, to start the fourth inning by taking back the lead. The Lopes were not done, as junior third baseman Mackenzie Nolan reached on a hit by pitch, junior catcher Tinley Lucas reached on a fielder's choice error by the pitcher and Wilkinson walked.
With McCray at the plate, a wild pitch easily scored Nolan for a 4-2 lead, while Lucas was tagged out at home believing she hadd been obstructed in the base path.
Two freshmen came through with two outs to extend the lead. First, Holtorf singled in the Lopes' fifth run. She holds the second-best batting average on the team at .359. She just trails Shifflett, who singled up the middle on a 1-2 count scoring another two runs to pad the GCU lead to 7-2.
Shifflett is hitting .406 through the first 28 games with hits in 16 of her 23 starts this season.
Senior right-hander Maggie Place took over late in the sixth inning in the circle, closing out the final inning and a third. She escaped the seventh inning with the bases loaded to hold the 7-2 win.
GCU still holds the nation's best record at 28-0. Tennessee and Alabama are the only other undefeated teams in the nation after each won over ranked SEC opponents on Friday, moving the Volunteers to 26-0 and the Crimson Tide to 25-0.
Grand Canyon returns Saturday to Lobo Softball Field at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) for the second game of the three-game, conference-opening series.
GCU senior Taryn Batterton earned her seventh win of the season in the circle, while seniors Sydney McCray and Emily Gonzalez led the way at the plate.
The Lopes entered Friday night's contest with just one previous road game, a win at San Diego last weekend. They now have won 15 straight regular-season road games since a 2024 loss at Arizona.
GCU struck quickly, putting baserunners on first and second immediately in the top of the first thanks to McCray's single and steal and a walk by freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf.
McCray used her speed to score the Lopes' first run when freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett dropped down a sacrifice bunt two batters later. Shifflett was barely out at first, but McCray never stopped her full-speed sprint around third base, taking an extra base at home plate for a 1-0 GCU lead.
McCray collected three hits, the only Lope with multiple hits on the evening. She scored after every hit in the leadoff spot, where she has been all season with .349 hitting and a .462 on-base percentage.
The third inning looked similar for GCU, as McCray singled and stole to start the inning again. This time, Holtorf bunted her over to third base and sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper scored McCray on a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.
The evening in Albuquerque included wind gusts up to 15 mph and may have been the reason Cooper has a sacrifice fly in the scorebook rather than a home run. Off the bat, it appeared to be a long ball that would have put the Lopes ahead 3-0, but New Mexico center fielder Hayden Luderer caught the fly ball at the warning track in right-center.
Batterton, making her 11th start of the season, got through the first two frames unscathed with a strikeout and a pair of walks. In the third inning, MW Player of the Week Miracle McKenzie lined a two-run shot over the wall in left field to even the game at 2-2.
Batterton allowed three singles and struck out four to shut out the Lobos over the next three innings, putting her in line for the win thanks to the GCU offense's fourth-inning explosion.
The explosion began with senior designated player Emily Gonzalez's no-doubter to deep center field, her fifth home run of the season, to start the fourth inning by taking back the lead. The Lopes were not done, as junior third baseman Mackenzie Nolan reached on a hit by pitch, junior catcher Tinley Lucas reached on a fielder's choice error by the pitcher and Wilkinson walked.
With McCray at the plate, a wild pitch easily scored Nolan for a 4-2 lead, while Lucas was tagged out at home believing she hadd been obstructed in the base path.
Two freshmen came through with two outs to extend the lead. First, Holtorf singled in the Lopes' fifth run. She holds the second-best batting average on the team at .359. She just trails Shifflett, who singled up the middle on a 1-2 count scoring another two runs to pad the GCU lead to 7-2.
Shifflett is hitting .406 through the first 28 games with hits in 16 of her 23 starts this season.
Senior right-hander Maggie Place took over late in the sixth inning in the circle, closing out the final inning and a third. She escaped the seventh inning with the bases loaded to hold the 7-2 win.
GCU still holds the nation's best record at 28-0. Tennessee and Alabama are the only other undefeated teams in the nation after each won over ranked SEC opponents on Friday, moving the Volunteers to 26-0 and the Crimson Tide to 25-0.
Grand Canyon returns Saturday to Lobo Softball Field at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) for the second game of the three-game, conference-opening series.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Batterton, Taryn (7-0)
L: GUEST, McKenna (5-4)
Batting:
HR: Gonzalez, Emily 1
RBI: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 3 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1
SH: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 2
SF: Cooper, Jada 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McCray, Sydney 3 ; Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 1 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1
SB: McCray, Sydney 2 ; Martin, Trinity 1 ; Campbell, Morgan 1 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1
HBP: Cooper, Jada 1 ; Martin, Trinity 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 1
Batting:
2B: WILLIAMS, Allie 1
HR: MCKENZIE, Miracle 1
RBI: MCKENZIE, Miracle 2
SH: VASQUEZ-DICKSON, DeN 1
Base Running:
RUNS: VASQUEZ-DICKSON, DeN 1 ; MCKENZIE, Miracle 1
CS: VASQUEZ-DICKSON, DeN 1
HBP: BRIONES, Gabrielle 1 ; ROWE, Estrella 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball#softball celebrates a 'SHIP on the BUS 🏆🚌
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