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
Sunday, March 15
Albuquerque, N.M.
9 a.m.
Grand Canyon
30-0, 0
8
at
0
New Mexico
12-16, 0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Canyon | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Photo by: Braden Dohrmann
Run-rule win sweeps Lobos, puts Lopes at 30-0
3/15/2026 2:08:00 PM | Softball
GCU's Cooper drives in 3 runs to put season tally at 29
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – No. 23 Grand Canyon's bats exploded for eight runs on 11 hits Sunday at New Mexico to win an 8-0, five-inning game and sweep the Lopes' first Mountain West series.
The Lopes remained the only undefeated team in the nation with a 30-0 start, tripling the best-ever start by a Mountain West program.
GCU sophomore right-hander Natalie Fritz started the series finale with extra motivation at New Mexico, where she tossed 100 2/3 innings with 78 strikeouts as a freshman. In the offseason, Fritz decided to return closer to her Chandler, Arizona, home and join the Lopes staff.
The Basha High School product is off to a nice start this season with a 6-0 record and 1.28 ERA after being solid again Sunday, going 3 1/3 innings, striking out three and just allowing a trio of hits. The game went just five innings, putting her in line for her sixth win, already surpassing last season's total at New Mexico.
The Lopes had runners on base in all five innings of play and score first in the second inning, when junior catcher Tinley Lucas turned on an inside pitch and sent it a country mile over the left-field wall to take a 2-0 lead.
Lucas's third homer of the season came on a full count, and the Lopes never looked back.
In the fourth inning, GCU ripped off four consecutive two-out RBI hits for a four-run inning. Lopes junior third basmean Mackenzie Nolan singled and moved to second on a ground out, setting up freshman Raegan Holtorf to score her by smacking a single through the six-hole and advancing to third on a throwing error.
Two pitches later, sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper hammered a line drive to center to score Holtorf. Two pitches after that, freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett joined the party by sending what seemed like a no-doubter off the bat too high into the sky. The 20 mph winds brought the ball back into play, hitting off the center-field wall for a stand-up double.
The string of RBI hits was the last straw for starting pitcher McKenna Guest, as the Lobos brought in Saturday starter Caitlin Benningfield from her Sunday spot in center field.
GCU senior designated player Emily Gonzalez blooped a ball into right-center field, where the sun's glare helped it find turf for Gonzalez's 10th double of the season.
Lopes sophomore left-hander Oakley Vickers entered the circle for Fritz with one out in the fourth frame and proceeded to retired the next five batters, including two strikeouts, to end the game.
In the top half of the fifth, Grand Canyon added on two runs for the run-rule win. With the bases loaded and two outs, Cooper came through again, with an RBI single to left field, plating the Lopes' sevneth and eighth runs.
Cooper finished the weekend with a .444 batting average, a .500 on-base percentage, a home run and five RBIs. The Houston native is hitting .372 and leads the team in home runs (seven), on-base percentage (.510), and RBIs (29).
At 3-0 in the conference, the Lopes already hold a one-game lead on the rest of the Mountain West, with every other conference team dropping a game on opening weekend.
The 30-0 Lopes should rise in the national polls, carrying the momentum as the only unbeaten team in the country into a massive upcoming week at GCU Softball Stadium.
Grand Canyon hosts No. 15 Oklahoma State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. This will be the highest-ranked opponent the Lopes have faced this season. The Cowgirls (18-9) are coming off a series loss at Arizona State this weekend.
GCU will host San José State next weekend. The Spartans took two of three games at home against UNLV on the opening weekend of conference play.
The Lopes remained the only undefeated team in the nation with a 30-0 start, tripling the best-ever start by a Mountain West program.
GCU sophomore right-hander Natalie Fritz started the series finale with extra motivation at New Mexico, where she tossed 100 2/3 innings with 78 strikeouts as a freshman. In the offseason, Fritz decided to return closer to her Chandler, Arizona, home and join the Lopes staff.
The Basha High School product is off to a nice start this season with a 6-0 record and 1.28 ERA after being solid again Sunday, going 3 1/3 innings, striking out three and just allowing a trio of hits. The game went just five innings, putting her in line for her sixth win, already surpassing last season's total at New Mexico.
The Lopes had runners on base in all five innings of play and score first in the second inning, when junior catcher Tinley Lucas turned on an inside pitch and sent it a country mile over the left-field wall to take a 2-0 lead.
Lucas's third homer of the season came on a full count, and the Lopes never looked back.
In the fourth inning, GCU ripped off four consecutive two-out RBI hits for a four-run inning. Lopes junior third basmean Mackenzie Nolan singled and moved to second on a ground out, setting up freshman Raegan Holtorf to score her by smacking a single through the six-hole and advancing to third on a throwing error.
Two pitches later, sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper hammered a line drive to center to score Holtorf. Two pitches after that, freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett joined the party by sending what seemed like a no-doubter off the bat too high into the sky. The 20 mph winds brought the ball back into play, hitting off the center-field wall for a stand-up double.
The string of RBI hits was the last straw for starting pitcher McKenna Guest, as the Lobos brought in Saturday starter Caitlin Benningfield from her Sunday spot in center field.
GCU senior designated player Emily Gonzalez blooped a ball into right-center field, where the sun's glare helped it find turf for Gonzalez's 10th double of the season.
Lopes sophomore left-hander Oakley Vickers entered the circle for Fritz with one out in the fourth frame and proceeded to retired the next five batters, including two strikeouts, to end the game.
In the top half of the fifth, Grand Canyon added on two runs for the run-rule win. With the bases loaded and two outs, Cooper came through again, with an RBI single to left field, plating the Lopes' sevneth and eighth runs.
Cooper finished the weekend with a .444 batting average, a .500 on-base percentage, a home run and five RBIs. The Houston native is hitting .372 and leads the team in home runs (seven), on-base percentage (.510), and RBIs (29).
At 3-0 in the conference, the Lopes already hold a one-game lead on the rest of the Mountain West, with every other conference team dropping a game on opening weekend.
The 30-0 Lopes should rise in the national polls, carrying the momentum as the only unbeaten team in the country into a massive upcoming week at GCU Softball Stadium.
Grand Canyon hosts No. 15 Oklahoma State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. This will be the highest-ranked opponent the Lopes have faced this season. The Cowgirls (18-9) are coming off a series loss at Arizona State this weekend.
GCU will host San José State next weekend. The Spartans took two of three games at home against UNLV on the opening weekend of conference play.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fritz, Natalie (6-0)
L: GUEST, McKenna (5-5)
Batting:
2B: Shifflett, Addison 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1
HR: Lucas, Tinley 1
RBI: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Cooper, Jada 3 ; Shifflett, Addison 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 2
SH: Nolan, Mackenzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 1 ; Martin, Trinity 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 1 ; Rueda, Izzy 1 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 1
SB: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Campbell, Morgan 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 1
CS: Gonzalez, Emily 1
HBP: McCray, Sydney 1 ; Holtorf, Raegan 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball#softball celebrates a 'SHIP on the BUS 🏆🚌
Friday, May 01
It's senior day for the visitors too 💜 #softball
Monday, April 27
#grwm: GCU Softball's Sydney McCray #softball
Thursday, April 23
HOMER from the DRONE 🥎 #collegesoftball
Saturday, April 11