Bounce-back rout keeps GCU in MW lead

Saturday, April 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

44-7, 17-4

UNLV

28-19, 15-6

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UNLV Rebels	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Grand Canyon	2	3	4	1	X	10	8	0

Photo by: Kaily Green

4/25/2026 4:51:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Lopes meeting sharpens focus for 10-0 win vs. UNLV

By: Paul Coro

While UNLV was taking batting practice Saturday at GCU Softball Stadium, Grand Canyon was preparing to win inside the neighboring Lopes Performance Center.

After rare back-to-back losses narrowed GCU's Mountain West lead to one game, the Lopes players sat in a circle on the LPC basketball floor with Sydney McCray initiating a meeting in which the seniors reinforced team goals and expectations.

And then GCU exhibited that excellence. The Lopes (44-7, 17-4 MW) bounced back from Friday's 4-3 loss to trounce UNLV 10-0 in five run-rule innings Saturday, extending their lead to two games on UNLV and maintaining a one-game lead on Nevada with four games to play.

Lopes senior Taryn Batterton recaptured early-season form to notch GCU's 16th shutout win of the season and her first complete game since Feb. 26. The right-hander only needed graduate left fielder Trinity Martin's two-run, first-inning home run, but the potent Lopes offense added two more home runs and scored in each of its four offensive innings.

"That talk put everything into perspective for us, and we're really just playing for each other now," Batterton said. "This team is one of the closest ones I've ever been a part of. We're going to get going at the right time. We felt more together as a group today after that talk."

Batterton moved her record to 10-1 with her longest outing since March 13, allowing three hits and three walks with five strikeouts over five innings. After yielding back-to-back singles to start the third, Batterton did not surrender another hit. She escaped that jam with consecutive grounders, including an inning-ending double play.

Leaning on an effective drop ball, Batterton flashed how she has cleaned up her mechanics with pitching coach Kat Frakes.

"The biggest positive about the day was Taryn being back on her horse and in her element," GCU head coach Shanon Hays said. "She's refocused and back to where she was earlier in the year. That's what we need to finish strong."

Each of Batterton's previous nine appearances had lasted fewer than two innings, some by design with staff outings. But she also was trying to return to the form that opened the season with 28 consecutive shutout innings.

"I've just bought into what my coaches are telling me," Batterton said. "I was just trying to get over the hump and out of the slump. Kat tells me there are peaks and valleys, and I've been clawing my way out of the valley. Things are looking up."
Trinity Martin home run celebration

Batterton pitched with a lead from the point Martin clobbered her team-leading 14th home run, the 10th round-tripper she has hit during Mountain West play. Martin hit nine home runs over three years at Virginia Tech, where she batted .259 last season. She was hitting .209 this season until she began this two-month torrid streak, batting .318 since Feb. 27.

"I'm really thankful for these girls," said Martin, who tied the GCU single-season home run record of 14 set by Kristin Fifield in 2023. "I never expected myself to be in this position at all. To be here and playing a fourth year with the people that I love the most in the world is pretty awesome.

"To have the opportunity to really put my heart out there on the field has been the best opportunity I've ever had. I'm thankful to Coach Hays for the opportunity. Without him, I wouldn't be able to see the tournament and what I was capable of on the field."

GCU increased the lead to 5-0 in the second inning on sophomore designated player Jada Cooper's bases-loaded walk and freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett's two-out, two-run single.
Ellie Pond home run celebration

The Lopes recorded their eighth game of at least three home runs this season with two more home runs in a four-run third inning. Junior catcher Tinley Lucas led off by cranking a 1-2 pitch to right field for her career-high eighth home run. Two batters later, sophomore Ellie Pond whacked another solo shot off the left-field scoreboard for her third home run of the month and sixth of the season.

GCU freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf's triple scored a run and set up herself to come home on Martin's RBI grounder, which made the lead 9-0.

Pinch-hitter Alina Satcher, a junior, knocked in the final Lopes run on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly that scored pinch-runner Briah Williams, a sophomore who entered after senior first baseman's Emily Gonzalez's 103rd career walk put her in the national top 30 among active players. GCU tied the program record for walks in a season (205) after drawing eight bases on balls Saturday.

The 10-0 final score was the Lopes' largest margin of victory since winning 15-3 at Utah State on March 27.

"I think we didn't feel the weight of the game, and that's what made a difference," Martin said. "Basically, we were ourselves. We weren't playing for anything but each other. When we do that, we play so much better."

GCU and UNLV (28-19, 15-6 MW) close the series with an 11 a.m. rubber match Sunday at GCU Softball Stadium. The game will be streamed on Mountain West Network and televised on Arizona's Family Sports.

"We need to go out and focus on playing a solid game," Hays said. "We can think about the other stuff when the game's over. We've put ourselves in a good position."