Completed Event: Softball at Colorado State on May 2, 2026 , Win , 11, to, 2 , (5 inn.)
Softball
at Colorado State
W 11-2
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
NCAA tourney pits GCU vs. Louisville in Lincoln
5/10/2026 4:30:00 PM | Softball, Paul Coro
25th-ranked Lopes seeded No. 3 in Nebraska's Lincoln Regional
No. 25 Grand Canyon will play in the only NCAA Tournament regional that includes three top-25 teams with the Mountain West champions being matched against No. 24 Louisville for a Friday opener at national No. 4 seed Nebraska's regional.
In the double-elimination Lincoln Regional, GCU (52-8) will start Friday at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) on ESPNU against No. 24 Louisville (44-12). The Lopes and the Cardinals are ranked No. 27 and No. 29, respectively, in the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index. Less than 24 hours after completing the largest comeback in program history (9-0 deficit to 11-10 win) to capture the Mountain West Championship title at Nevada, the Lopes gathered on campus in Phoenix to watch the fate of their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance on ESPN2's NCAA Selection Show.
"Tough, tough matchup," GCU head coach Shanon Hays said of Louisville. "When you play the 2-3 game, if you can get just not a crazy tough matchup, you can do your pitching in a different way. We'll have to bring our best all the way to have a chance to beat them. They're a top-25, top-30 team pretty much every year."
Louisville, whose ACC Tournament ended with a 6-5 quarterfinal loss to Stanford, ranks 11th nationally in runs per game (7.6) and batting average (.351) and is No. 5 in stolen bases (127). The Cardinals feature three .400-plus hitters who were named to the All-ACC first team — sophomore Madison Pickens (10th in the nation at 470) and seniors Chelsea Mack (.445) and Bri Despines (.410). The Cardinals finished third in the regular season of the ACC, rated as the nation's third-best conference.
Nebraska (46-6), the region's top seed with the nation's sixth-best ERA (1.95), will play Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota (20-34-1) in the regional's other first-round matchup at 2,530-seat Bowlin Stadium. Friday's winners and losers will be paired for Saturday games in the double-elimination format that ends Sunday.
"I didn't think we were going to go there, so I wasn't even ready," Lopes sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper said of seeing "Grand Canyon" pop up in the Lincoln Region unveiling. "I wasn't even ready. But I think we can do it I believe in our team. I believe in our hitting. I believe in our pitching staff and our coaches. I think we can come out of the regional."
While 12 Lopes were part of previous NCAA Tournament teams, freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett was experiencing the anxious moments of watching a selection show together for the first time.
"It's actually crazy," said Shiflett, who set MW Championship records for home runs (four) and RBIs (13) in GCU's 10-homer tourney. "It's just really nice to be with your team during this time, just to cherish these moments as the season comes to better competition and more challenges to overcome."
GCU automatically earned the regional trip with its dramatic claim of the Mountain West Championship title on Saturday, when the MW regular-season champions beat host Nevada twice with a 3-0 shutout and an 11-10, nine-inning win on junior catcher Tinley Lucas' ninth-inning, game-winning single.
Going up against a strong-hitting team such as Louisville reminds Lucas of recent talks she had with GCU pitchers when their confidence was being tested.
"I was just like, 'I believe in you guys so much that I don't care what pitch is called. If you throw it and execute it, your stuff is so good and I believe that you can do it,' " Lucas said. "Our battery is unreal. I have so much belief in literally every single pitch that they throw if they execute it because their stuff is just so nasty."
The Lopes's 52-win total set a program record and is tied for the most victories in the nation with Texas Tech. They entered the week ranked 25th in the nation by the ESPN/USA Softball Poll and 21st in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, while closing the weekend at No. 27 in the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index.
The 52-8 season is a continuation of the massive program turnaround the Lopes underwent when Hays took the helm. In his five-year tenure, GCU holds the fourth-best winning percentage in the nation (.802, 235-58) behind only Oklahoma, UCLA and Florida State. The Lopes were able to do it in a season that lost MW Preseason Player of the Year Savannah Kirk to knee surgery before the opener. They won their final three games of the MW Championship after losing starting shortstop Mackenzie Nolan to injury.
"I was hoping we'd get a 2-seed, and I thought we'd earned a 2-seed," Hays said. "We were in the top 32 in all the power indexes. And so for us to get a 3-seed, hopefully we'll use that as a fuel to show people we are better than that.
"It's going to be a fun atmosphere (in Lincoln), and trust me, they are going to pack it full."
The Lopes won the Mountain West regular-season championship in their first season as a conference member with four All-MW first-team honorees Cooper, sophomore pitcher Natalie Fritz, graduate left fielder Trinity Martin and senior center fielder Sydney McCray, who also was the MW Defensive Player of the Year.
GCU won the MW Championship with sophomore pitcher Oakley Vickers being named the Most Valuable Player for her 1.09 ERA and tournament-record 23 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings. Vickers was joined on the All-MW Championship Team by Martin, Lucas and Shifflett.
"I'm glad that I had a good tournament because the Nebraska regional is going to be hard, but I feel confident in my pitches and all of my stuff's working right now," Vickers said.
In the double-elimination Lincoln Regional, GCU (52-8) will start Friday at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time) on ESPNU against No. 24 Louisville (44-12). The Lopes and the Cardinals are ranked No. 27 and No. 29, respectively, in the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index. Less than 24 hours after completing the largest comeback in program history (9-0 deficit to 11-10 win) to capture the Mountain West Championship title at Nevada, the Lopes gathered on campus in Phoenix to watch the fate of their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance on ESPN2's NCAA Selection Show.
"Tough, tough matchup," GCU head coach Shanon Hays said of Louisville. "When you play the 2-3 game, if you can get just not a crazy tough matchup, you can do your pitching in a different way. We'll have to bring our best all the way to have a chance to beat them. They're a top-25, top-30 team pretty much every year."
Louisville, whose ACC Tournament ended with a 6-5 quarterfinal loss to Stanford, ranks 11th nationally in runs per game (7.6) and batting average (.351) and is No. 5 in stolen bases (127). The Cardinals feature three .400-plus hitters who were named to the All-ACC first team — sophomore Madison Pickens (10th in the nation at 470) and seniors Chelsea Mack (.445) and Bri Despines (.410). The Cardinals finished third in the regular season of the ACC, rated as the nation's third-best conference.
Nebraska (46-6), the region's top seed with the nation's sixth-best ERA (1.95), will play Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota (20-34-1) in the regional's other first-round matchup at 2,530-seat Bowlin Stadium. Friday's winners and losers will be paired for Saturday games in the double-elimination format that ends Sunday.
"I didn't think we were going to go there, so I wasn't even ready," Lopes sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper said of seeing "Grand Canyon" pop up in the Lincoln Region unveiling. "I wasn't even ready. But I think we can do it I believe in our team. I believe in our hitting. I believe in our pitching staff and our coaches. I think we can come out of the regional."
While 12 Lopes were part of previous NCAA Tournament teams, freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett was experiencing the anxious moments of watching a selection show together for the first time.
"It's actually crazy," said Shiflett, who set MW Championship records for home runs (four) and RBIs (13) in GCU's 10-homer tourney. "It's just really nice to be with your team during this time, just to cherish these moments as the season comes to better competition and more challenges to overcome."
GCU automatically earned the regional trip with its dramatic claim of the Mountain West Championship title on Saturday, when the MW regular-season champions beat host Nevada twice with a 3-0 shutout and an 11-10, nine-inning win on junior catcher Tinley Lucas' ninth-inning, game-winning single.
Going up against a strong-hitting team such as Louisville reminds Lucas of recent talks she had with GCU pitchers when their confidence was being tested.
"I was just like, 'I believe in you guys so much that I don't care what pitch is called. If you throw it and execute it, your stuff is so good and I believe that you can do it,' " Lucas said. "Our battery is unreal. I have so much belief in literally every single pitch that they throw if they execute it because their stuff is just so nasty."
The Lopes's 52-win total set a program record and is tied for the most victories in the nation with Texas Tech. They entered the week ranked 25th in the nation by the ESPN/USA Softball Poll and 21st in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, while closing the weekend at No. 27 in the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index.
The 52-8 season is a continuation of the massive program turnaround the Lopes underwent when Hays took the helm. In his five-year tenure, GCU holds the fourth-best winning percentage in the nation (.802, 235-58) behind only Oklahoma, UCLA and Florida State. The Lopes were able to do it in a season that lost MW Preseason Player of the Year Savannah Kirk to knee surgery before the opener. They won their final three games of the MW Championship after losing starting shortstop Mackenzie Nolan to injury.
"I was hoping we'd get a 2-seed, and I thought we'd earned a 2-seed," Hays said. "We were in the top 32 in all the power indexes. And so for us to get a 3-seed, hopefully we'll use that as a fuel to show people we are better than that.
"It's going to be a fun atmosphere (in Lincoln), and trust me, they are going to pack it full."
The Lopes won the Mountain West regular-season championship in their first season as a conference member with four All-MW first-team honorees Cooper, sophomore pitcher Natalie Fritz, graduate left fielder Trinity Martin and senior center fielder Sydney McCray, who also was the MW Defensive Player of the Year.
GCU won the MW Championship with sophomore pitcher Oakley Vickers being named the Most Valuable Player for her 1.09 ERA and tournament-record 23 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings. Vickers was joined on the All-MW Championship Team by Martin, Lucas and Shifflett.
"I'm glad that I had a good tournament because the Nebraska regional is going to be hard, but I feel confident in my pitches and all of my stuff's working right now," Vickers said.
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
LHP
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