Hot start fizzles in loss at No. 13 Arizona

Tuesday, March 24

Tucson, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

33-2

#13 Arizona

24-8

Grand Canyon

Arizona

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

3/24/2026 10:35:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

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Cooper's 2-run home run, Nolan's 2 extra-base hits lead Lopes

By: Paul Coro

TUCSON – Grand Canyon squinted and stared at the replay of a sixth-inning foul ball that it felt should have been a three-home run, but it left Arizona spending more time scrutinizing the other missed opportunities of Tuesday night's top-25 clash at Hillenbrand Stadium.

No. 13 Arizona defeated No. 23 GCU 9-5 in front of 2,198 fans with a 13-hit attack that scored runs in five of its six offensive innings, continuing an offensive trend that won a weekend series against No. 25 Arizona State with 15 runs in two weekend games.

In a marquee event as the nation's only Tuesday game between ranked teams, GCU (33-2) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper's ninth home run of the season. But by the end of three innings, the Lopes trailed 7-2.

"You don't mind getting hit against a really good offensive team like this," GCU head coach Shanon Hays said of Arizona, which averages 7.8 runs per game. "You just can't give them the free stuff. We gave them free walks early, and then we don't make an easy play. Their starter got out of the inning when we would've kept having the momentum, and then the momentum went against us."

Jada Cooper

The game opened to the Lopes' formula with the two-way star of the game, senior center fielder Sydney McCray, hitting a leadoff single and Cooper following one out later with a blast into the left-field bleachers.

Cooper leads the team with nine home runs, all of which have come in the past 23 games. She had gone 0 for 6 against Arizona last season, including the regional elimination game in Tucson.

"I know this team is really good pitching-wise," Cooper said. "This is the best team that has pitched to me in my experience. I knew they were going to try to bust me in, so I was sitting inside the whole time. I finally turned on it and got my pitched that I wanted so I could come through for my team."

But Arizona wiped away the lead quickly in the bottom of the first, when McCray made the first of her defensive gems with a diving catch on a line drive after a Wildcats walk. But a single and a hit batsman followed to load the bases with two outs, when defensive miscommunication allowed a fly ball to drop in left field and score two runs.

Another GCU leadoff single was wiped out by an unlucky line-drive double play in the second inning, setting up Arizona (24-8) to add to the lead. Again, McCray dazzled in center by sliding feet-first forward to snag a line drive off to her side, and she later kept a line drive off the wall to a single. But with two outs, slap-hitting Arizona second baseman Sereniti Trice hit her first career home run in 251 at bats for a 5-2 lead.

The Lopes did not score with a leadoff runner on base again in the third, when two walks were wiped out by three groundouts.

After freshman Abi Jones relieved sophomore Oakley Vickers in the second, Arizona kept adding to the lead in the third inning. A leadoff walk was followed by three consecutive one-out singles on a night when the bottom of Arizona's lineup went 8 for 12.

Sydney McCray

Another diving catch by McCray in left-center field limited the damage to two runs, putting Arizona ahead 7-2.

"They've been outscoring people, but you can't give them what we did," Hays said. "We didn't hold onto the momentum, and that's what was disappointing."

After the Wildcats lead stretched to 8-2 on another two-out hit (Arizona was 7 for 13 with two outs), GCU pushed back in the sixth after reliever Taryn Batterton tossed a perfect fifth.

GCU leadoff hitters were 3 for 4 with three walks Tuesday night, and it was senior designated player Emily Gonzalez's walk that sparked a sixth-inning rally.

Lopes junior shortstop Mackenize Nolan, who had tripled earlier in the game, cranked a double to the right-center field gap for GCU's first run since the first-inning Cooper home run.

With two Lopes on base and a 1-2 count, sophomore third baseman Ellie Pond lofted a shot over the right-field wall that was ruled foul. A video review upheld the call, although the call remained in question for GCU.

"I think it's still a mystery whether that was ball was fair," Hays said of the play that would have cut Arizona's lead to 8-6. "I thought it was fair. I didn't think there was any way it didn't go around it. There are only so many angles you can get in this review. That's just how it goes sometimes, but we deserved to get beat. We didn't pitch it well, and when you miss the ball we missed in the first inning, you get what you deserve."

Ellie Pond

Instead of getting the heat-applying home run, Pond struck out on the at bat. GCU still added two runs on a McCray liner and an Arizona error, sending the game to the seventh with the Wildcats lead trimmed to 8-5.

Arizona added another two-out RBI single in the seventh for a 9-5 lead and the Lopes' seventh-inning hopes were quickly dashed by the Wildcats' nation-leading 27th double play of the season.

Lopes freshman Addison Shifflett's first-pitch, leadoff double was wiped out when she tried to take third on an ensuing 5-3 ground out.

"I kept feeling like we were going to score runs," Hays said. "I was a little disappointed we didn't get more than we did. We just didn't pitch it well. Against a great offensive item like Arizona, you better be on your game and we weren't."

GCU went 3 for 19 with runners on base Tuesday night, when Arizona recorded a Lopes opponent high with 13 hits. The previous high was 12, set by now-No. 21 Oklahoma State in the Lopes' only other loss of the season.

"There were other opportunities for us to score," Cooper said. "A coach told me to control the controllables. These midweek games have been tough, and our schedule is only going to get tougher from here. It's honestly helping us to prepare for our conference and hopefully host a regional. It's a learning game."

The Lopes have another midweek test against a ranked team when Arizona State visits GCU Softball Stadium on April 14. Until then, GCU gets back to Mountain West play with a series this weekend at Utah State. The Lopes are off to a 6-0 conference start for a two-game lead atop the conference.

"I love coming to play here," Hays said of Arizona. "They're super-tough. It's fun to be close to home and to play in an atmosphere like we did tonight and how we did last week at home (against Oklahoma State). That's what we're shooting for – those important games.

"This is a huge weekend. Utah State has been scoring runs with a really good offense and took one from Nevada. It's going home for Ellie Pond, so the girls want to play well for her."
Shanon Hays