GCU faces UNLV in final home series of the season

Friday, April 24

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UNLV

Photo by: Jayden Todd

4/24/2026 10:00:00 AM | Softball

Series win locks up first-round bye in MW Championship

By: Braden Dohrmann

April 24-26, 2026 \| GCU Softball Stadium \| Phoenix, Arizona

	GRAND CANYON LOPES (43-6, 16-3 MW)	vs.	UNLV REBELS (27-18, 14-5 MW)

Grand Canyon plays host to UNLV who comes to Phoenix tied for second-place in the Mountain West.

Grand Canyon holds a two-game lead on the entire Mountain West, with Nevada and UNLV tied for second place at 14-5. If the Lopes win this weekend's series against UNLV, they minimally clinch a first-round bye in the Mountain West Championship.
GCU was ranked in the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 rankings from week 3 through last week, before they dropped to No. 26 this week. They have the fourth-best winning percentage and are tied for the most wins in the nation. GCU is No. 21 in the NFCA poll.
The Lopes are No. 30 in the most recent RPI, with the program's highest ranking coming in at No. 27 last week.
Senior center fielder Sydney McCray has the most stolen bases in the nation without being caught (29/29), with the ninth-most swiped bags in the country.
Grand Canyon is honoring four seniors on Sunday's Senior Day: Taryn Batterton, Emily Gonzalez, Sydney McCray, and Trinity Martin.

This will be the 6th-8th matchups between GCU and UNLV, with the all-time record in favor of the Rebels at 3-2. Grand Canyon beat UNLV at home last year.
The Rebels are 27-18 (14-5 MW) on the season as they enter the final stretch of conference play. UNLV is tied for second place in the Mountain West with Nevada. The Rebels are on a seven-game win streak in conference.
UNLV is hitting .316 with a team ERA of 4.46.
Rebel outfielder Keyannah Chavez leads the team in batting average at .433.

at SAN DIEGO STATE

GCU took two of three at San Diego State, run-ruling the Aztecs in games one and two, before losing via run-rule in game three.
In game two of the series, GCU scored seven runs in the fifth inning to put the game in run-rule contention.
Grand Canyon had not been run-ruled themselves in two years.

WHAT'S NEXT?