Completed Event: Softball versus Nevada on April 3, 2026 , Loss , 3, to, 4
Softball
vs Nevada
L 3-4
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, April 10
Phoenix, Ariz.
7 p.m.
Grand Canyon
40-4, 13-2
9
vs
4
Boise State
20-24, 6-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Grand Canyon | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | X | 9 | 7 | 1 |
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Power surges to be nation's 1st 40-win team of 2026
4/10/2026 10:34:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro
Lopes improve to 40-4 with 4 home runs, including Pond grand slam
With great power comes great softball.
No. 25 Grand Canyon thumped four home runs Friday night for the fourth time this season and turned a late-game tie with Boise State into a 9-4 victory. The Mountain West triumph made GCU the nation's first 40-win team of the season.
The Lopes (40-4, 13-2 MW) reached 40 wins for the fourth consecutive season after doing so twice in the program's 18 seasons before head coach Shanon Hays arrived in Phoenix. With second-place Nevada idle, GCU bumped its conference lead to 2 1/2 games entering Saturday's 1 p.m. game against Boise State at GCU Softball Stadium.
This season's team already had passed last season's 55-game home run total (57) in its 42nd game Wednesday before the Lopes unleashed 40th-win firepower Friday night with four players hitting home runs.
There were the usual suspects. Sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper matched her 2025 home run total with her team-best 12th, and senior designated player Emily Gonzalez cranked her 21st home run over her two GCU seasons.
GCU sophomore third baseman Ellie Pond crushed her second home run of the week when she busted the game open with a towering sixth-inning grand slam.
But the game-winner belonged to an unlikely power source: junior Mackenzie Nolan. The shortstop's only career home run in 196 previous career at bats came in the Feb. 6 season opener. That hardly looked like the case in the bottom of the fifth, when Nolan turned on an inside pitch for a tiebreaking moonshot over the right-field fence.
"Last week was rough, but we made a few adjustments with (assistant coach Hunter Hays) and now we're good to go," said Nolan, who went 2 for 2 with a walk Friday after an 0-for-6 Wednesday doubleheader. "I never think I am going to hit a home run, but that was awesome."
Even when two outs followed Nolan making GCU's lead 3-2, freshman second baseman Reagan Holtorf delivered a key at bat when she singled up the middle with an 0-2 count, bringing Cooper's lethal bat to the plate. The Houston native worked the count full before going opposite field for a two-run home run over the right-field fence and a 5-2 Lopes lead.
In 110 at bats this season, Cooper already has matched last season's home run total (12) and is four shy of that RBI total with a team-best 44 RBIs this season.
"That just means I'm growing as a player and as a person, maturing in the box," said Cooper, who also was walked for the 30th and 31st times Friday. "I really wasn't an oppo hitter until I get here for real. Coach Hays has taught me a lot to stay through the zone and trust the mechanics. I have a lot of power, so as long as I stay easy through the zone, I can hit the ball hard."
The GCU lead tightened to 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning, when sophomore starter Oakley Vickers returned in relief to hold the lead.
Gonzalez drew her second walk on a full count to start the bottom of the sixth, giving her two walks in the game and 98 in her career. After two more walks loaded the bases, Pond greeted Boise State reliever Shannon Keighran with a full-count grand slam to left field for a 9-4 lead.
It marked the first time this season that Boise State (20-24, 6-9 MW), which beat No. 10 Stanford and No. 14 Ole Miss this season, has yielded four home runs in a game.
"I didn't expect to hit this many, but I'm glad that we've all come together and can be powerful as a team," Cooper said.
GCU needed its highest-scoring game in the past seven games because its pitching, which entered with the nation's sixth-lowest ERA, also gave up two home runs and allowed six free bases on walks and hit batsmen.
Boise State's first home run was canceled by Gonzalez's second-inning leadoff homer that cleared the left-center field net. Cooper's third-inning RBI single for a 2-1 lead cashed in on senior center fielder Sydney McCray's single and stolen base, her 28th without being caught this season.
"Faith and Family Night" drew a crowd of 846 people, hundreds of which circled with GCU players, staffers and Boise State players for a postgame prayer and testimonials from Nolan, Holtorf and junior catcher Tinley Lucas.
"We're here as a group to honor God and to give thanks and honor his son Jesus for everything He has done for us," Hays told the crowd.
No. 25 Grand Canyon thumped four home runs Friday night for the fourth time this season and turned a late-game tie with Boise State into a 9-4 victory. The Mountain West triumph made GCU the nation's first 40-win team of the season.
The Lopes (40-4, 13-2 MW) reached 40 wins for the fourth consecutive season after doing so twice in the program's 18 seasons before head coach Shanon Hays arrived in Phoenix. With second-place Nevada idle, GCU bumped its conference lead to 2 1/2 games entering Saturday's 1 p.m. game against Boise State at GCU Softball Stadium.
This season's team already had passed last season's 55-game home run total (57) in its 42nd game Wednesday before the Lopes unleashed 40th-win firepower Friday night with four players hitting home runs.
There were the usual suspects. Sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper matched her 2025 home run total with her team-best 12th, and senior designated player Emily Gonzalez cranked her 21st home run over her two GCU seasons.
GCU sophomore third baseman Ellie Pond crushed her second home run of the week when she busted the game open with a towering sixth-inning grand slam.
But the game-winner belonged to an unlikely power source: junior Mackenzie Nolan. The shortstop's only career home run in 196 previous career at bats came in the Feb. 6 season opener. That hardly looked like the case in the bottom of the fifth, when Nolan turned on an inside pitch for a tiebreaking moonshot over the right-field fence.
"Last week was rough, but we made a few adjustments with (assistant coach Hunter Hays) and now we're good to go," said Nolan, who went 2 for 2 with a walk Friday after an 0-for-6 Wednesday doubleheader. "I never think I am going to hit a home run, but that was awesome."
Even when two outs followed Nolan making GCU's lead 3-2, freshman second baseman Reagan Holtorf delivered a key at bat when she singled up the middle with an 0-2 count, bringing Cooper's lethal bat to the plate. The Houston native worked the count full before going opposite field for a two-run home run over the right-field fence and a 5-2 Lopes lead.
In 110 at bats this season, Cooper already has matched last season's home run total (12) and is four shy of that RBI total with a team-best 44 RBIs this season.
"That just means I'm growing as a player and as a person, maturing in the box," said Cooper, who also was walked for the 30th and 31st times Friday. "I really wasn't an oppo hitter until I get here for real. Coach Hays has taught me a lot to stay through the zone and trust the mechanics. I have a lot of power, so as long as I stay easy through the zone, I can hit the ball hard."
The GCU lead tightened to 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning, when sophomore starter Oakley Vickers returned in relief to hold the lead.
Gonzalez drew her second walk on a full count to start the bottom of the sixth, giving her two walks in the game and 98 in her career. After two more walks loaded the bases, Pond greeted Boise State reliever Shannon Keighran with a full-count grand slam to left field for a 9-4 lead.
It marked the first time this season that Boise State (20-24, 6-9 MW), which beat No. 10 Stanford and No. 14 Ole Miss this season, has yielded four home runs in a game.
"I didn't expect to hit this many, but I'm glad that we've all come together and can be powerful as a team," Cooper said.
GCU needed its highest-scoring game in the past seven games because its pitching, which entered with the nation's sixth-lowest ERA, also gave up two home runs and allowed six free bases on walks and hit batsmen.
Boise State's first home run was canceled by Gonzalez's second-inning leadoff homer that cleared the left-center field net. Cooper's third-inning RBI single for a 2-1 lead cashed in on senior center fielder Sydney McCray's single and stolen base, her 28th without being caught this season.
"Faith and Family Night" drew a crowd of 846 people, hundreds of which circled with GCU players, staffers and Boise State players for a postgame prayer and testimonials from Nolan, Holtorf and junior catcher Tinley Lucas.
"We're here as a group to honor God and to give thanks and honor his son Jesus for everything He has done for us," Hays told the crowd.
Call us 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐌(𝐘𝐎𝐍)!!
— GCU Softball (@GCU_Softball) April 11, 2026
Ellie Pond brings em all home‼️ pic.twitter.com/zOwQhTbbqG
Jada Cooper with the POWER 💥 and the dance moves 💃@jada_cooper hits her 12th homer of the season and the Lopes lead 5-2 pic.twitter.com/pCRlseGaRo
— GCU Softball (@GCU_Softball) April 11, 2026
Kiss the sky, @macknolan9! 🌤️
— GCU Softball (@GCU_Softball) April 11, 2026
Lopes retake the lead!! pic.twitter.com/NsL9LdeEaI
BRING OUT THE TAPE MEASURE‼️
— GCU Softball (@GCU_Softball) April 11, 2026
This ball is crushed 💥 by @emily5gonzalez and we are tied!! pic.twitter.com/RFmK0Q0k7T
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Batterton, Taryn (9-1)
L: McNamara, Loula-Rae (8-4)
Batting:
2B: Stroh, Skylar 1
HR: Penberthy, Kate 1 ; Flindt, Mya 1
RBI: Gonzalez, Marissa 1 ; Penberthy, Kate 1 ; Flindt, Mya 2
SH: Jenkins, Talia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farmer, Hollie 1 ; Penberthy, Kate 1 ; Peffley, Grace 1 ; Flindt, Mya 1
HBP: Stroh, Skylar 2
Batting:
HR: Nolan, Mackenzie 1 ; Pond, Ellie 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1
RBI: Nolan, Mackenzie 1 ; Pond, Ellie 4 ; Cooper, Jada 3 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1
SH: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 2 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; Pond, Ellie 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Gonzalez, Emily 1 ; McCray, Sydney 1
SB: McCray, Sydney 1
CS: Williams, Briah 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
4
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballUTIL
/ Softball
LHP
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