Completed Event: Softball versus San José State on March 20, 2026 , Win , 5, to, 1
Softball
vs San José State
W 5-1
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, March 27
Logan, Utah
3 p.m.
Grand Canyon
34-2, 34-2
15
at
3
Utah State
14-18, 3-4
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Grand Canyon
0
0
5
0
0
0
10
15
17
0
Utah State
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
3
6
2
Photo by: Braden Dohrmann
10-run 7th inning blows out Utah State
3/27/2026 7:38:00 PM | Softball
Lopes get 10 hits in inning for program's most since 2016
LOGAN, Utah – Grand Canyon's historic seventh inning was more than enough to put away Game 1 of the three-game series at Utah State, beating the Aggies 15-3 on Friday.
The Lopes scored 10 runs on 10 hits in the top of the seventh inning with two five-hit streaks. GCU (34-2, 7-0 Mountain West) had not scored double-digit runs in an inning since 2018, when the Lopes brought home 11 runs in the eighth inning of a WAC Tournament victory over Utah Valley.
Grand Canyon only scored in two of the seven innings, adding the first five GCU runs in the third inning.
Utah State (14-18, 3-4 MW) struck first in the bottom of the second, with two solo shots from Grace Matej and Kate Vance off GCU starter Taryn Batterton, who went 2 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
The Lopes got the first three runners on base in the third, with senior center fielder Sydney McCray and sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper drawing walks and freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf reaching on a fielding error in between the walks. Freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett took advantage with a full-count single up the middle to score two.
Graduate left fielder Trinity Martin followed the hit up with a sacrifice bunt and senior designated player Emily Gonzalez scored pinch-runner Briah Williams on a sacrifice fly. After junior catcher Tinley Lucas' walk, junior shortstop Mackenzie Nolan smoked a line drive off the left-center wall for a stand-up double, scoring the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
Nolan made her first start at shortstop since Week 2 of the season, with Utah native Ellie Pond starting at third base. Nolan delivered two hits, both doubles, on the afternoon.
GCU had seven players with two hits, the most in a game this season. Every starter in the lineup recorded a hit, also a first in the 2026 season.
Freshman right-hander Abi Jones celebrated her birthday with a fantastic game in relief, taking over for Batterton in the third. She went 3 2/3 innings, only allowing one hit and striking out five batters to hold the lead at 5-2.
Jones earned the win, moving to 4-1 on the season with a 1.97 ERA as the Lopes' go-to reliever.
The seventh inning blew the doors open, with ten runs sprung on Utah State fairly quickly. Of the ten hits in the inning, four of them came on the first pitch. Junior catcher Tinley Lucas highlighted the inning with a three-run no-doubt home run to start the inning and a 2-RBI double to cap it. She led the team in RBI's with five.
Redshirt freshman Haley Wilkinson came off the bench for the first time this season, but she remained in the game at shortstop after pinch-running for Gonzalez in the fifth. Wilkinson connected on two hits in the seventh inning, including an RBI double near the end of the scoring. McCray, Cooper and Martin all added RBI singles in the inning.
Lopes freshman Lilly Camp made her fifth appearance of the season, taking the bottom of the seventh. She allowed a home run and struck out a batter.
With the win, GCU kept a two-game lead over second-place Nevada in the conference standings.
Grand Canyon and Utah State play the conference series' second game Saturday at 11 a.m. (Phoenix time) with a stream available on the Mountain West Network.
The Lopes scored 10 runs on 10 hits in the top of the seventh inning with two five-hit streaks. GCU (34-2, 7-0 Mountain West) had not scored double-digit runs in an inning since 2018, when the Lopes brought home 11 runs in the eighth inning of a WAC Tournament victory over Utah Valley.
Grand Canyon only scored in two of the seven innings, adding the first five GCU runs in the third inning.
Utah State (14-18, 3-4 MW) struck first in the bottom of the second, with two solo shots from Grace Matej and Kate Vance off GCU starter Taryn Batterton, who went 2 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.
The Lopes got the first three runners on base in the third, with senior center fielder Sydney McCray and sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper drawing walks and freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf reaching on a fielding error in between the walks. Freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett took advantage with a full-count single up the middle to score two.
Graduate left fielder Trinity Martin followed the hit up with a sacrifice bunt and senior designated player Emily Gonzalez scored pinch-runner Briah Williams on a sacrifice fly. After junior catcher Tinley Lucas' walk, junior shortstop Mackenzie Nolan smoked a line drive off the left-center wall for a stand-up double, scoring the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
Nolan made her first start at shortstop since Week 2 of the season, with Utah native Ellie Pond starting at third base. Nolan delivered two hits, both doubles, on the afternoon.
GCU had seven players with two hits, the most in a game this season. Every starter in the lineup recorded a hit, also a first in the 2026 season.
Freshman right-hander Abi Jones celebrated her birthday with a fantastic game in relief, taking over for Batterton in the third. She went 3 2/3 innings, only allowing one hit and striking out five batters to hold the lead at 5-2.
Jones earned the win, moving to 4-1 on the season with a 1.97 ERA as the Lopes' go-to reliever.
The seventh inning blew the doors open, with ten runs sprung on Utah State fairly quickly. Of the ten hits in the inning, four of them came on the first pitch. Junior catcher Tinley Lucas highlighted the inning with a three-run no-doubt home run to start the inning and a 2-RBI double to cap it. She led the team in RBI's with five.
Redshirt freshman Haley Wilkinson came off the bench for the first time this season, but she remained in the game at shortstop after pinch-running for Gonzalez in the fifth. Wilkinson connected on two hits in the seventh inning, including an RBI double near the end of the scoring. McCray, Cooper and Martin all added RBI singles in the inning.
Lopes freshman Lilly Camp made her fifth appearance of the season, taking the bottom of the seventh. She allowed a home run and struck out a batter.
With the win, GCU kept a two-game lead over second-place Nevada in the conference standings.
Grand Canyon and Utah State play the conference series' second game Saturday at 11 a.m. (Phoenix time) with a stream available on the Mountain West Network.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Abi (4-1)
L: COCHRAN, Kendall (3-2)
Batting:
2B: Nolan, Mackenzie 2 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 1
HR: Lucas, Tinley 1
RBI: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 2 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 5 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 2 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1 ; McCray, Sydney 1
SH: Martin, Trinity 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 1
SF: Gonzalez, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Martin, Trinity 2 ; Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 1 ; Wilkinson, Haley 2 ; Pond, Ellie 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 2 ; Williams, Briah 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 2 ; McCray, Sydney 2
SB: Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; McCray, Sydney 1
Batting:
HR: MATEJ, Grace 1 ; VANCE, Kate 1 ; RAMIREZ, Jazmin 1
RBI: MATEJ, Grace 1 ; VANCE, Kate 1 ; RAMIREZ, Jazmin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MATEJ, Grace 1 ; VANCE, Kate 1 ; RAMIREZ, Jazmin 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
ss/3b
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
PR/ss
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
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