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
Friday, May 1
Fort Collins, Colo.
3 p.m.
Grand Canyon
47-7
9
at
7
Colorado State
23-26
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Canyon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 1 |
| Colorado State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
Photo by: Braden Dohrmann
GCU explodes for 8 in the 7th, 20th MW win
5/1/2026 8:29:00 PM | Softball
Lopes' Pond pounds 2 home runs in 7th inning at CSU
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Grand Canyon scored eight runs in the seventh inning to turn a 5-1 deficit into a 9-5 lead Saturday, sending the Lopes to a series win at Colorado State.
GCU's 9-7 victory marked their first game with an eight-run innings since their season opener, a 17-2 rout of Southern Utah on Feb 6.
Through six innings, the Lopes (47-7, 20-4 Mountain West) had just one run on four hits, getting shut down by Colorado State's Reagan Wick. The Rams scored two in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie before added two more runs in the sixth for a 5-1 lead.
GCU sophomores Ellie Pond and Jada Cooper were not quite ready to go away. Pond led off the seventh inning with a deep drive over the left-field fence to move within three runs. After a popout for the first out of the inning, junior catcher Tinley Lucas walked, senior center fielder Sydney McCray reached on an infield single, and freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases.
Cooper, after already reaching on a hit and a walk, watched a first-pitch strike before sending the next pitch over the wall right-center field. With 13 homers, Cooper easily leads the team with 55 RBIs. Her batting average reached .374 with the 2-for-3 game, and her on-base percentage is also a team high at .546.
Pond was not done. The inning's leadoff batter came back up with runners on first and second and two outs. With a 2-0 hitter's count. she connected on her second home run of the inning and eighth of the season to almost the identical spot in left field as the leadoff homer.
With the three seventh-inning homers and four round-trippers in the game, GCU has tied the program single-season record with 75 home runs before Saturday's regular-season finale and the postseason.
The second Pond bomb was much more important than previously realized because for the third inning in a row, Colorado State scored two runs before junior right-hander Maggie Place shut the door for the 9-7 win.
Offensively, there were other notable highlights up and down the lineup. In the fourth inning, freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett hit her seventh home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
McCray extended her hitting streak to eight games with a pair of hits and added her 34th stolen base of the season without being caught.
GCU senior right-hander Taryn Batterton started the contest in the circle, just allowing one run in four innings. With one earned run allowed in three innings, freshman Abi Jones earned the win to improve to 9-2 this season.
The pitching staff only allowed six hits but hit four batters and walked seven to put Colorado State (23-26, 11-13 MW) in the driver's seat before the seventh-inning explosion.
While the Lopes already had clinched the Mountain West regular-season title Thursday night, the team's fourth consecutive win was still important for its RPI ranking.
GCU and Colorado State wrap up the regular season and their three-game set Saturday at 11 a.m. (Phoenix time) and noon (local).
GCU's 9-7 victory marked their first game with an eight-run innings since their season opener, a 17-2 rout of Southern Utah on Feb 6.
Through six innings, the Lopes (47-7, 20-4 Mountain West) had just one run on four hits, getting shut down by Colorado State's Reagan Wick. The Rams scored two in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie before added two more runs in the sixth for a 5-1 lead.
GCU sophomores Ellie Pond and Jada Cooper were not quite ready to go away. Pond led off the seventh inning with a deep drive over the left-field fence to move within three runs. After a popout for the first out of the inning, junior catcher Tinley Lucas walked, senior center fielder Sydney McCray reached on an infield single, and freshman second baseman Raegan Holtorf laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases.
Cooper, after already reaching on a hit and a walk, watched a first-pitch strike before sending the next pitch over the wall right-center field. With 13 homers, Cooper easily leads the team with 55 RBIs. Her batting average reached .374 with the 2-for-3 game, and her on-base percentage is also a team high at .546.
Pond was not done. The inning's leadoff batter came back up with runners on first and second and two outs. With a 2-0 hitter's count. she connected on her second home run of the inning and eighth of the season to almost the identical spot in left field as the leadoff homer.
With the three seventh-inning homers and four round-trippers in the game, GCU has tied the program single-season record with 75 home runs before Saturday's regular-season finale and the postseason.
The second Pond bomb was much more important than previously realized because for the third inning in a row, Colorado State scored two runs before junior right-hander Maggie Place shut the door for the 9-7 win.
Offensively, there were other notable highlights up and down the lineup. In the fourth inning, freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett hit her seventh home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
McCray extended her hitting streak to eight games with a pair of hits and added her 34th stolen base of the season without being caught.
GCU senior right-hander Taryn Batterton started the contest in the circle, just allowing one run in four innings. With one earned run allowed in three innings, freshman Abi Jones earned the win to improve to 9-2 this season.
The pitching staff only allowed six hits but hit four batters and walked seven to put Colorado State (23-26, 11-13 MW) in the driver's seat before the seventh-inning explosion.
While the Lopes already had clinched the Mountain West regular-season title Thursday night, the team's fourth consecutive win was still important for its RPI ranking.
GCU and Colorado State wrap up the regular season and their three-game set Saturday at 11 a.m. (Phoenix time) and noon (local).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Abi (9-2)
L: Wick, Reagan (11-11)
Batting:
HR: Pond, Ellie 2 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 1
RBI: Pond, Ellie 4 ; Cooper, Jada 4 ; Shifflett, Addison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Martin, Trinity 1 ; Holtorf, Raegan 1 ; Pond, Ellie 2 ; Lucas, Tinley 1 ; Cooper, Jada 1 ; Shifflett, Addison 2 ; McCray, Sydney 1
SB: McCray, Sydney 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Kyra 1 ; Wilson, Jailey 1
RBI: Edwards, Abby 2 ; Stucky, Lauren 3 ; Wilson, Jailey 2
SH: Smith, Jac 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DeZeeuw, Nadia 1 ; Edwards, Abby 1 ; Stucky, Lauren 1 ; Eslinger, Madi 1 ; Smith, Jac 1 ; Hinson, Lindsey 1 ; Poteet-Herrera, Bradie 1
SB: Eslinger, Madi 1
HBP: Edwards, Abby 2 ; Castillo, Clarissa 1 ; Smith, Jac 1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF
/ 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