Grand Canyon claimed their second straight Mountain West series, taking game two of the three game set with San José State, in run-rule fashion.
The power bats were the story of the night, as most of GCU’s best home run hitters this season added to their season totals, Saturday evening.
Junior utility player Alina Satcher drew first blood in her first start since the first weekend of the season, capping a four-run first inning with a two-run shot to dead center field. The no-doubter was Satcher’s fifth homer of the season in just her 32nd at-bat. Satcher has served as the go-to pinch hitter off the bench for head coach Shanon Hays this season but gave Jada Cooper a day off at DP Saturday night.
“It was nice to see Alina come through today,” said Hays. “She continues to show up when we call her name. Her RBI totals (20) are crazy when you think about the number of at-bats she has gotten this year. With her pitching ability as well, she gives us many opportunities to do some dynamic things with our lineup.”
Before the Satcher home run, senior Sydney McCray and freshman Raegan Holtorf started the inning with singles, moving to second and third after an Emily Gonzalez sacrifice bunt.
Freshman Addison Shifflett hit in the first run thanks to sacrifice fly to left field and graduate Trinity Martin singled up the middle to bring in run number two.
Martin, who went 3/3 with two home runs the night before, added another 3/3 day with another home run on Saturday. In the third inning, Emily Gonzalez singled to start the inning before sophomore Briah Williams pinch-ran for her. Martin then went yard for the third time in the series, hammering a ball to deep right-center field to make it a 6-1 ballgame.
Martin would add another single in the fifth, giving her a 6/6 stat line with 3 HR and 6 RBI through two games of the San José State series.
“Trin has really started to buy in to what we are teaching her at the plate,” said Hays. “She is really starting to believe in her swing and has taken advantage of good pitches to hit, to say the least.”
The Lopes were not done in the third, as Satcher walked after the Martin HR. She was pinch ran for by freshman Izzy Rueda. After a Mackenzie Nolan fly-out, Jada Cooper who sat out of the starting lineup, pinch-hit and you guessed it- homered.
Cooper’s shot was to straightaway center and gave the Lopes a resounding 8-1 lead through three innings of play.
Sophomore Oakley Vickers made her 11th start of the year in the circle after going for three inning Friday night and earning the save. Vickers went 2 2/3 innings pitched, allowing a solo shot in the third inning and striking out five.
Junior Maggie Place took over in the third and earned the win, moving her to 6-0 on the year. Freshman Abi Jones took care of the fifth inning for the GCU pitching staff.
Needing two more runs for a run-rule win in the bottom of the fifth up 8-2, the GCU bats delivered once more.
After Martin’s third hit, Satcher and starting catcher Sarah Campbell both walked to load the bases. After a Haley Wilkinson fielder’s choice drew the second out at home plate, McCray walked in run number nine. Holtorf did the rest with a line-drive base hit to left field for her second hit of the game.
Holtorf is up to a .394 batting average (best on the team), with multi-hit games in three of the last four games. She is riding a seven-game hit streak and leads the team with ten multi-hit games.
With the win, GCU is 5-0 in MW play, holding a two-game lead for first place over the rest of the conference.
“I tell our girls every weekend, if we can win series in a great conference like the Mountain West it is a great accomplishment. However, getting that third game is what puts us over the top, it is a bonus that we want to take advantage of,” said Hays.
The Lopes and Spartans face off at 11 a.m. Sunday morning to cap the series. You can watch the game on MW Network or AZ Family Sports.