The Grand Canyon Antelopes softball team represents Grand Canyon University in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

. The team participates in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

. The Lopes are currently led by head coach

Shanon Hays Shanon Hays (born February 12, 1968) is an American softball coach for the Grand Canyon Antelopes. Previously, he was the head coach at Texas Tech and remains the winningest coach in program history. He also has held several positions as a men's ...

. The team plays its home games at GCU Softball Stadium located on the university's campus.

History

In 2002, GCU announced it would start a softball program that would compete in the 2004 season. On November 18, 2002, it announced the hiring of Arizona State assistant coach Ann Pedersen as its first head coach. GCU qualified for the NCAA Tournament three times at the Division II level (2010, 2012, 2013). The Lopes won the

regular-season championship in their first year (2014) at the Division I level. GCU also won the regular-season title in 2017. GCU and Ann Pierson parted ways on May 20, 2021, after the program posted back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 2008. Shanon Hays was hired as the program's second head coach on June 11, 2021. In Hays' first season, he brought in 15 newcomers and led Grand Canyon to its third WAC regular-season title, first WAC Tournament title and first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Conference membership (Division I only)

*2014–present: Western Athletic Conference

Head coaches (Division I only)

Ann Pierson was the head coach for 10 Division II seasons (2004-2013) not reflected below.

GCU Softball Stadium

GCU Softball Stadium is a softball

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

on the Grand Canyon campus in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

that seats 1,200 people. The new artificial turf playing surface was used in the 2017 season while a permanent stadium was built around it and opened on February 8, 2018. GCU Softball Stadium replaced Stapleton-Pierson Stadium as the primary venue for the program.

Year-by-year NCAA Division I results

References

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External links

GCULopes.com Softball

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

Western Athletic Conference softball