The wait is over.
 
Catching fire at the right time, the Grand Canyon University Club Softball team pulled off a crucial sweep in its final regular season tripleheader of the season, beating Cal-State Fullerton, 8-6, 12-4 and 10-2 at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix Saturday afternoon. The sweep not only extended the Lopes' winning streak to seven games, but also upped their record in National Club Softball Association Pacific Region South Conference play to 18-3 and officially punched their tickets for Yuba City, California, and the 2023 Pacific Regional Tournament. The Lopes secured the 4th and final seed in the double-elimination tournament as an at-large bid and will play top-seeded University of Oregon to open the tournament this Saturday, April 29.
 
Regardless of how the Lopes fare from here, they've already posted a few milestones during the regular season. The 10-2 win over the Titans in Game 3 Saturday earned the Lopes their 20^th win overall-only the second time in the program's history (first time since 2017) that they've hit the 20-win mark.
 
They did it after being forced to completely start over.
 
"After the pandemic, most to all of our players moved back to their home states, so the program declined drastically with the number of girls that wanted to participate," said Lopes' Head Coach Lindsey Collins. "The team last season consisted of 12 women, instead of the 20-25 I am used to having. I understood that it would need to be rebuilt over time, but to my surprise, it only took one year. I am blessed to have 17 very talented women represent our program and I am very proud of them."  
 
The 18-3 conference mark was nearly good enough to secure the Lopes their first conference title in six years, but they finished ½ game back of Northern Arizona University's 18-2-1 mark – the difference being a 5-5 tie the Lumberjacks held on for against University of California-Irvine back in early March. The Lopes took two of three games in the season series against NAU, who will enter the tournament as the #3 seed and face 2^nd-seeded University of California-Davis. It will be a 10AM first pitch for the Lopes and Oregon this Saturday in northern California, then the Lopes will play either a 1PM winner's bracket or loser's bracket game – depending on the 10AM outcome.
 
That means another showdown between the two Arizona rivals is likely.
 
"We know there is a large chance of us playing NAU on Saturday, and we are looking forward to competing with them again," said Collins. "NAU has a competitive team, and my girls know that they need to take care of the little things during each inning to accomplish the win at the end. I am confident that they will give me their all and leave everything they have on the field."  
 
The tournament's championship round begins at 10AM Sunday. The Lopes are seeking their second region championship as well as a trip to the NCSA World Series, which commences May 18 in Columbus, Georgia. The Lopes – under Collins, who was in her first year at the helm - finished 3^rd in the nation in their only other trip to nationals back in 2017.