GCU offense stifled by ASU's Brown

Tuesday, April 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

42-4

Arizona State

32-13

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Arizona State	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	5	10	1
Grand Canyon	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

4/14/2026 10:34:00 PM | Softball

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Lopes just muster one run on one hit in Tuesday clash

By: Braden Dohrmann

Grand Canyon could not get the bats rolling in Tuesday night's 5-1 loss to Arizona State in front of 1,249 fans at GCU Softball Stadium.

ASU, which was receiving Top 25 votes coming in to the crosstown battle, was led by senior ace Kenzie Brown's 16-strikeout complete game. Brown, a 2025 All-American, pitched a one-hitter a week after receiving a coveted "Golden Ticket" to the up-and-coming Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

The game was scoreless through three innings as Brown and GCU starter Oakley Vickers were each controlling the pace early on. Arizona State broke the scoring drought with two outs in the fourth, as ASU's Emily Schepp homered for a 1-0 lead. Vickers then allowed a single and the Lopes went to freshman Abi Jones in hopes of calming the storm and keeping the game within one run.

Jones hit the first batter she faced, allowed a single to left, and with the bases loaded after working a full count, Tiare HoChing doubled scoring another three runs.

Grand Canyon had not allowed ASU a run in two years, as they shut them out twice in 2025.

Offensively, Grand Canyon earned its first and only hit on the night on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Addison Shifflett hammered an opposite field home run off Brown to make it a three-run game. It was Shifflett's sixth long ball of the season.

Tinley Lucas batted next hitting a high pop-fly in the infield that managed to drop for an error. Lucas made her way to second base on the play, with still no outs. Brown struck out the next three, ending the possible GCU threat.

Senior Taryn Batterton took the sixth inning, allowing a leadoff double that would come around to score, while Natalie Fritz pitched a clean seventh frame.

GCU moves to 41-5 on the year, with nine conference games remaining on the schedule. The Lopes are 14-2 in conference with a three-game lead on Nevada and UNLV.

Grand Canyon heads to San Diego State this weekend for a three-game set at SDSU Softball Stadium, a field the Lopes played at twice earlier this year in nonconference play.