Imagine what waiting until March might've done.
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In the latest start ever to its National Club Softball Association Pacific Region South Conference season, the
Grand Canyon University Club Softball team proved that "good things come to those who wait", kicking off its campaign with a tripleheader sweep of 19
th-ranked Northern Arizona University Saturday at Paradise Valley High School in Phoenix. The Lopes battled from behind in their final at-bats to win Game 1, 8-7; jumped on the Lumberjacks' pitching early en route to a 10-1 'mercy rule' victory in Game 2, then clamped down on the NAU offense for the final four innings of a 6-5 triumph in the nightcap. It's the first sweep of NAU by the Lopes since 2019 and avenged the 'Jacks' sweep of the Lopes last April in Cottonwood.
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Game 1:Â GCU 8, NAU 7
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The Lopes set the tone early, then had to set it again to win the game. Three straight hits to lead off the bottom of the 1
st inning led to a 4-0 GCU lead. NAU scored a run in the top of the 3
rd, but a
Kadence Courtright RBI double in the bottom half kept the Lopes' four-run lead intact until the 5
th. That's when the Lumberjacks sent 12 to the plate, plating half of those on six hits to give NAU a 7-5 lead. The 'Jacks maintained the lead until the bottom of the 7
th when GCU 2
nd baseman
Denise Lopez cranked a solo homer to the deepest part of the park with one out to get the Lopes within a run. That set the table for a two-out rally, thanks to a
Megan Reichley double, Courtright RBI single and an
Emma Pinkstaff walkoff RBI double to plate Courtright to put the Lopes over the top. Courtright's 3-for-4 day and two runs batted in led the 12-hit attack, while
Quincy Weinbender's 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball in relief garnered her the win.
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Game 2:Â GCU 10, NAU 1 (F/5)
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The Game 1 momentum officially carried over into Game 2 as the Lopes' offense chased NAU starting pitcher McKell Gordon after 2 2/3 innings, scoring all 10 runs during that stretch. Pinkstaff's 1
st-inning single gave the Lopes a 2-0 lead; three NAU errors led to three more GCU runs in the 2
nd inning, then GCU blew it open with a five-run 3
rd. That was more than enough for Weinbender and reliever
Taylor DeShon to keep the NAU offense quiet, allowing just five hits and an unearned run over five innings to invoke the eight-run mercy rule after the 5
th. The single was Pinkstaff's only hit, but the Lopes' centerfielder had four RBI – two of them coming home on a deep fly out in the 5
th that allowed both Lopez and
Allison Wilson to tag and score.
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Game 3:Â GCU 6, NAU 5
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Another hot start offensively, but this time, it happened for both teams as all 11 runs crossed the plate in the first three innings of the game. Each team used the others' generosity (walks, hit batters and errors) to score a run in each of the first two innings before the Lumberjacks took their largest lead of the day on Berdina Riggs' three-run blast with one out in the visitors' half of the 3
rd. Undeterred, GCU marched right back in the bottom half of the frame with a Reichley leadoff homer, a Courtright double, and – after Weinbender was plunked by a pitch – a game-tying triple by Lopes' shortstop
Anna Lye. The 'Jacks almost stranded Lye at 3
rd base before a mammoth nine-pitch at-bat for
Emily Reilly resulted in a sacrifice fly to right that plated Lye. From there, Weinbender – in her second relief appearance of the day – took over, allowing just two NAU hits over the final four innings, and retiring the side in order in the 7
th to preserve the sweep. Reichley, Lopes and Courtright had two hits apiece in the win.
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Despite the season's late start, the Lopes will head to Los Angeles, California, this coming weekend to square off against the University of Southern California for a tripleheader, then take a full month off. Their next home tripleheader happens on Saturday, March 22, when they host the Titans of Cal-State Fullerton in a 10AM first pitch at PVHS.