Completed Event: Softball at San Diego State on April 17, 2026 , Win , 12, to, 3 , (5 inn.)
Softball
at San Diego State
W 12-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, April 30
Fort Collins, Colo.
5 p.m.
Grand Canyon
46-7
10
at
5
Colorado State
23-25
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Canyon | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 0 |
| Colorado State | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
Photo by: Braden Dohrmann
Lopes win, clinch MW regular-season title
4/30/2026 10:29:00 PM | Softball
GCU wins conference title in 1st year in Mountain West
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Friday night's win over Colorado State will be remembered for a long time. Not only within GCU Softball, but for Grand Canyon's athletic department.
With a 10-5 win and a loss by second-place Nevada to UNLV just minutes later, the Lopes clinched the first Mountain West Championship in school history.
The regular-season championship locks up the No. 1 seed in next week's Mountain West Championship. The tournament will take place in Reno, Nevada, home to second or third place Nevada.
GCU's responsibility in the two-part clinch scenario was a win in Fort Collins. The Lopes scored 10 runs on 14 hits thanks to a full-team effort. The entire starting lineup earned a hit for just the second time this season.
Senior designated player Emily Gonzalez must have sensed that the month of May was near, as she went yard twice in the contest. Both were solo shots, one to take a 1-0 lead in the second and the other to reclaim the lead at 4-3 in the fifth. Gonzalez showed the ability to heat up late in the year last season when she homered in two of three NCAA Regional games and in the WAC Tournament Championship.
Gonzo now has 11 home runs on the year, nearing last year's total of 13. Her 24 homers at Grand Canyon ties her for third in GCU's Division I history. Camree Wartman also hit 24 over her four-year Lopes career from 2014-17.
The Lopes held a 3-0 lead that was erased in the third inning. Starting pitcher Natalie Fritz threw two clean innings to begin the game before Colorado State's Jailey Wilson tied the game with a deep drive to left field. Fritz went 2 1/3 innings pitched, just allowing two hits and striking out three.
Oakley Vickers entered in relief, eventually earning the win. The sophomore lefty was dominant over three innings, striking out six before she too, was chased out thanks to a Rams two-run shot. Vickers is 12-4 on the year and leads the team in saves with four.
After Gonzalez made the game 4-3 in the fifth inning, Grand Canyon's lineup was far from done. Tinley Lucas and Addison Shifflett added singles before Ellie Pond walked, loading the bases up with two outs for junior shortstop Mackenzie Nolan.
Nolan ripped a line-drive single into right-center field two score two more runs and extend the lead to 6-3.
In the sixth inning, graduate left fielder Trinity Martin smoked a triple to score another run before she scored herself on a Lucas bloop single. Martin has three triple on the year, while Lucas led the team with three hits on the night and is hitting .380 in 19 starts at catcher in conference play.
After the Rams added two in the sixth, GCU extended a three-run lead to five thanks to Jada Cooper's two-RBI double. Cooper added another three walks on the evening, extending her program single season record to 41 walks on the year.
Grand Canyon has locked up the No. 1 seed and Regular Season Title in the Mountain West but still has much to play for on Friday and Saturday to finish out the regular season schedule.
Entering the night at No. 30 in the RPI, the Lopes will look to continue to improve their resume as the NCAA Tournament looms just two weeks away.
With a 10-5 win and a loss by second-place Nevada to UNLV just minutes later, the Lopes clinched the first Mountain West Championship in school history.
The regular-season championship locks up the No. 1 seed in next week's Mountain West Championship. The tournament will take place in Reno, Nevada, home to second or third place Nevada.
GCU's responsibility in the two-part clinch scenario was a win in Fort Collins. The Lopes scored 10 runs on 14 hits thanks to a full-team effort. The entire starting lineup earned a hit for just the second time this season.
Senior designated player Emily Gonzalez must have sensed that the month of May was near, as she went yard twice in the contest. Both were solo shots, one to take a 1-0 lead in the second and the other to reclaim the lead at 4-3 in the fifth. Gonzalez showed the ability to heat up late in the year last season when she homered in two of three NCAA Regional games and in the WAC Tournament Championship.
Gonzo now has 11 home runs on the year, nearing last year's total of 13. Her 24 homers at Grand Canyon ties her for third in GCU's Division I history. Camree Wartman also hit 24 over her four-year Lopes career from 2014-17.
The Lopes held a 3-0 lead that was erased in the third inning. Starting pitcher Natalie Fritz threw two clean innings to begin the game before Colorado State's Jailey Wilson tied the game with a deep drive to left field. Fritz went 2 1/3 innings pitched, just allowing two hits and striking out three.
Oakley Vickers entered in relief, eventually earning the win. The sophomore lefty was dominant over three innings, striking out six before she too, was chased out thanks to a Rams two-run shot. Vickers is 12-4 on the year and leads the team in saves with four.
After Gonzalez made the game 4-3 in the fifth inning, Grand Canyon's lineup was far from done. Tinley Lucas and Addison Shifflett added singles before Ellie Pond walked, loading the bases up with two outs for junior shortstop Mackenzie Nolan.
Nolan ripped a line-drive single into right-center field two score two more runs and extend the lead to 6-3.
In the sixth inning, graduate left fielder Trinity Martin smoked a triple to score another run before she scored herself on a Lucas bloop single. Martin has three triple on the year, while Lucas led the team with three hits on the night and is hitting .380 in 19 starts at catcher in conference play.
After the Rams added two in the sixth, GCU extended a three-run lead to five thanks to Jada Cooper's two-RBI double. Cooper added another three walks on the evening, extending her program single season record to 41 walks on the year.
Grand Canyon has locked up the No. 1 seed and Regular Season Title in the Mountain West but still has much to play for on Friday and Saturday to finish out the regular season schedule.
Entering the night at No. 30 in the RPI, the Lopes will look to continue to improve their resume as the NCAA Tournament looms just two weeks away.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vickers, Oakley (12-4)
L: Bentley, Giselle (8-10)
Batting:
2B: Lucas, Tinley 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1
3B: Martin, Trinity 1
HR: Gonzalez, Emily 2
RBI: Martin, Trinity 1 ; Nolan, Mackenzie 3 ; Lucas, Tinley 1 ; Cooper, Jada 3 ; Gonzalez, Emily 2
SF: Nolan, Mackenzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Martin, Trinity 1 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1 ; Lucas, Tinley 1 ; Williams, Briah 1 ; Campbell, Morgan 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 2 ; Gonzalez, Emily 2 ; McCray, Sydney 1
SB: Nolan, Mackenzie 1 ; Wilkinson, Haley 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Kyra 1
HR: Edwards, Abby 1 ; Wilson, Jailey 1
RBI: Edwards, Abby 2 ; Wilson, Jailey 3
Base Running:
RUNS: DeZeeuw, Nadia 1 ; Edwards, Abby 1 ; Stucky, Lauren 1 ; Smith, Kyra 1 ; Wilson, Jailey 1
HBP: Edwards, Abby 1 ; Rutherford, Autumn 1
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball#softball celebrates a 'SHIP on the BUS 🏆🚌
Friday, May 01
It's senior day for the visitors too 💜 #softball
Monday, April 27
#grwm: GCU Softball's Sydney McCray #softball
Thursday, April 23
HOMER from the DRONE 🥎 #collegesoftball
Saturday, April 11