Courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics 

Grand Canyon shut out both ends of its Saturday night doubleheader with an 8-0 victory over Eastern Illinois and a 5-0 win over UC Riverside at GCU Softball Stadium.

GCU 8, Eastern Illinois 0

GCU scored in each bottom half of an inning for its 20th win, coming in run-rule fashion over Eastern Illinois.

The Lopes hit two home runs , one inside the park and the other well out of the park. In rare occasion, GCU senior Sydney McCray swung away rather than slapping in the second inning and drove a hit deep to left-center field. The ball landed just over the center fielder’s outstretched glove and went off the bottom of the wall, jetting back toward the field of play.

McCray, who typically has free reign to make decisions on the basepaths, received support from head coach Shanon Hays to head home. McCray made it around the infield so quickly that she scored without sliding as the ball arrived after she crossed home plate.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, sophomore third baseman Ellie Pond took the second pitch of the inning deep over the net in left-center field to give her three homers on the season and a round-tripper in back-to-back days.

Pond’s blast in the fourth made the lead 7-0 before the Lopes once again crowded the basepaths with senior Emily Gonzalez two-out double and freshman Izzy Rueda scoring on consecutive wild pitches as Gonzalez’s pinch-runner.

With the lead at eight, Grand Canyon just needed three more outs in the top half of the fifth inning to earn its seventh run-rule victory of the season. Freshman pitcher Abi Jones shut the door quickly with a perfect inning that ended with a strikeout.

Sophomore left-hander Oakley Vickers started in the circle, going 3 1/3 innings before being replaced by Jones. Vickers earned her sixth win of the season with five strikeouts.

GCU 5, UC Riverside 0

The Lopes’ nightcap offense did not click as it did in Saturday’s first game. However, home runs from freshman right fielder Addison Shifflett and sophomore first baseman Jada Cooper provided just enough offense for the Lopes’ 21st win.

Sophomore righ-hander Natalie Fritz moved to 4-0 with four shutout innings in her start. Senior right-hander Maggie Place followed that with three shutout innings for her first save of the year.

The Highlanders racked up eight hits but were unable to scrape a run across, thanks to timely strikeouts late in innings.

GCU scored in the first inning when McCray walked and Gonzalez hit a bloop single that easily scored the speedster from second base.

It was not until the fourth inning when the Lopes scored again to break the 1-0 standstill. Shifflett, now batting .458, homered to right-center field to double the lead.

In the fifth inning, GCU added three more runs, all coming with two outs. Gonzalez doubled to score Pond, who had reached on an error to start the inning. Cooper followed with her team-best fifth home run to deep left field.

That was all the Lopes needed, growing their record to an astounding 21-0 to start the season. They remain one of four undefeated teams in the nation.

GCU returns Sunday for one final game of the GCU/ASU Classic at 11:30 a.m. Sunday against Eastern Illinois at GCU Softball Stadium.