Courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics
LOGAN, UT. – Grand Canyon controlled game two at Utah State from start to finish, scoring three in the first and five in the seventh to clinch the series.
The Lopes went yard four times, including twice off the bat of graduate outfielder Trinity Martin. Martin leads the team in home runs now with ten and has three multi-homer games.
Martin hit a three-run shot in the top of the first to kickstart the scoring for GCU, tripled in the fourth run of the game in the fifth inning, and hit a two-run bomb down the right field line in the seventh to finish off her six-RBI day.
Martin homered four times last weekend at home against San José State, now with six home runs in eight games of Mountain West play. She has multiple hits in five of the last six games.
Oakley Vickers made the start in the circle, pitching three innings, just allowing one run on three hits and four strikeouts. However, it would be the freshman Abi Jones who received the win behind her 2 2/3 innings in relief, not allowing a hit or run in her appearance. She moved to 5-1 on the season, earning the win in both games to start the series at Utah State.
GCU scored a fifth run to extend the lead from 4-1 thanks to a Sydney McCray opposite-field home run, her first division-one “out-of-the-park” home run of her career. McCray hit an inside-the-park homer earlier this season, but Saturday’s shot saw the lefty-slapper swing away with a full count and sneak the fly ball over the fence in left field.
McCray added another two-hit day, doing the same Friday afternoon against Utah State. McCray and Martin are the only two Lopes with multiple hits in both games of the series. Sydney has five straight games with multiple hits, the first GCU player to do so since Savannah Kirk did so in six straight in May of last season.
McCray leads the team in hits with 43, and stolen bases with 22 after another one Saturday.
In the seventh inning, GCU piled on as they did in game one. They scored five more runs to finish the game at a final score of 10-1. Two more home runs sealed the deal.
Trinity Martin homered in a pinch-running Briah Williams for Jada Cooper. Cooper went hitless on the day but walked three times, improving her on-base percentage to .536 on the year.
Alina Satcher earned a pinch-hit opportunity later in the inning with two runners on after Emily Gonzalez and Tinley Lucas singles. Satcher went yard, her sixth of the season in just 36 at-bats.
Freshman Lilly Camp once again was called on for solid late-game experience, recording the final two outs of the game for the Lopes.
Grand Canyon moved to 8-0 in the Mountain West with the win, winners of the first three series in its new conference. The Lopes sit at No. 30 in the RPI as a 35-2 team.
The series finale in Logan will start at 11 a.m. (AZ), noon (UT) on Sunday. You can watch on MW Network.
