Courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics
LOGAN, UT. – Grand Canyon shutout Utah State in the series finale Sunday thanks to a gem from starting pitcher Natalie Fritz. Fritz threw 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball, only allowing two hits and striking out eight.
GCU (36-2, 9-0 MW) has opened their first season in the Mountain West with three consecutive sweeps, two of which came on the road (New Mexico, Utah State). They have the best record in the country, with two more wins than the next closest team (Oklahoma).
Sophomore right-hander Natalie Fritz was the story of the day, giving GCU the best start in the circle in conference play so far this season. Fritz did not allow a baserunner until the fourth inning when she hit a batter, giving up her first hit in the fifth.
We felt like Natalie was a good matchup against Utah State coming into the series with her riseball,” said head coach Shanon Hays. “She worked ahead in counts all day and had great command over all her pitches. We really hoped to see a performance like today’s.”
Fritz began the game retiring the first 11 batters she faced.
GCU scored in spurts as they did all series, scoring two in the second thanks to an Ellie Pond two-RBI double to deep center field. The sophomore third baseman started in all three games of the series back in her home state of Utah.
The next batch of runs came off one swing in the very next inning, After two-out walks from graduate Trinity Martin and senior Emily Gonzalez, junior catcher Tinley Lucas reached below the strike zone at a ball and flicked it out of the park.
Lucas’s power was evident with the three-run shot, her second of the weekend and fifth of the season, giving Grand Canyon a 5-0 lead.
“Tinley has been money the last couple of the weeks at the plate,” said Hays. “Her, Trinity, and ‘Mack’ (Nolan) heating up the way they have recently has really extended our lineup.”
Lucas had three of GCU’s six hits on the day, just a triple shy of the cycle, as the junior hit in the seventh and final run of the game with a double off the center field wall in the top of the sixth inning to make it 7-0.
Tinley caught each game of the series, making it impossible for Hays to keep her out of the lineup the way she was swinging the bat.
Sophomore Jada Cooper hit her 10th home run of the season, when she hit a solo shot to dead center in the fifth inning. Cooper homered twice this week, going yard in the first inning of GCU’s loss at Arizona on Tuesday. Cooper joined Martin atop the team lead with ten long balls apiece.
Junior shortstop Mackenzie Nolan had the other hit for GCU, doubling in the third inning to extend her hit streak to five games. Nolan is hitting .396 in the 23 games she has appeared in. Nolan was out for two weeks earlier in the season with a lower-body injury she has since more than recovered from.
The Lopes welcome in Nevada (24-12, 6-3 MW) to GCU Softball Stadium next week for a three-game set between the top two teams in the conference. Nevada entered the day at No. 57 in the RPI, taking two out of three in their home series against San José State.
“Huge series next weekend,” said Hays. “They are tested team that has played a really good schedule. We will have to play our best to win that series. I am proud of our girls putting ourselves in a spot where this upcoming weekend holds the ramifications that it does.”
The Lopes and Wolf Pack face off Thursday (4/2) – Saturday (4/4) in Phoenix.
