Tarleton State falls to No. 24 Grand Canyon, back in action later tonight vs. UVU/SU winner for championship berth Saturday

Utah Valley (8) and Seattle U (4) are set to battle it out with the winner facing the Texans in the nightcap for a championship berth vs. the three-peat tournament champion No. 24 Grand Canyon.

The final score does not depict the game as it was a 2-0 game heading into the bottom of the sixth when the Lopes plated their final three runs. The Texans had just four hits compared to the Lopes 10 and left five runners on for Tarleton State.

The home team got off to a quick start as Savannah Kirk stole home on a double steal to make it 1-0 Lopes as threw down to second trying to gun the runner down.

GCU didn't strike again until the fourth when Mia Weckel singled scoring Kirk once again to make it 2-0. The score then held at the slight lead as the game headed to the bottom of the sixth and that is when the Lopes put the nails in the coffin solidifying their 22nd-straight win 5-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, Willa Ford singled to left scoring Weckel to make it 3-0. Tinley Lucas then singled through the left side scoring Jada Cooper pushing it to a 4-0 lead. Mackenzie Nolan wrapped things on the scoring side for the No. 24 team in the county as she singled to left scoring Ford before Makaiya Gomez was gunned down at the plate by in left to hold the score at 5-0.

For the Texans, the southpaw ace (15-5) earned the start and went four innings as she suffered just her fifth loss of the year moving to 15-5. While she only spent four innings in the circle, the freshman ace only gave up a pair of runs (both earned) on seven hits as she tossed 101 pitches. She still added to her strikeout total as she sat down five and now has 167 strikeouts on the season. also walked a trio. went just 1.1 IP as she gave up three runs (all earned) on one hit while she struck out one and walked four. saw her first action in the WAC Tournament as she went just 0.2 IP giving up just two hits while she struck out and walked one.

For the Lopes, Meghan Golden (W, 14-0) went 4.1 IP allowing just four hits while she walked a pair and struck out two as well. Maggie Placed tossed the final 2.2 IP putting up zeros on the board as she struck out a pair.

Next up for the Texans is a nightcap that will feature the winner of Utah Valley and Seattle U which got underway just after Tarleton State's game vs. the Lopes. The game will be a win or go home situation for both teams with a WAC Tournament Championship berth on the line vs. the No. 24 Lopes.

Earlier this season Tarleton State won the series 2-1 over Seattle U at home and swept Utah Valley 3-0 at home as well setting up an ideal elimination game where on paper the stats favor the Texans.

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