Utah Tech dropped the first two games of its WAC road series at Grand Canyon in a marathon doubleheader on Friday night at the GCU Softball Stadium. The Trailblazers rallied late but could not overcome the Lopes in an 11-inning series opener, 13-11, before falling in the nightcap by a 10-2 run-rule decision in five innings.
 
Trailing 10-6 late in game one, Utah Tech (24-15/9-5 WAC) plated a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to tie the game at 10-10 to force extra innings. 
 
The Blazers would take their first lead since the opening frame in the eighth when Tanya Windle singled in Oaklee Trapp with two outs. 
 
However GCU (33-8/9-5 WAC) would answer with a Ramsay Lopez solo home run in the home eighth, and would use the long ball to score the winning runs in the 11^th when Katelyn Dunckel connected for a two-out, two-run homer to end the game. 
 
Utah Tech lost despite outhitting the Lopes 18-14, with nine different Trailblazers collecting at least one hit. Shea Clements went 4-for-6 with a triple, while Hannah Hughbanks had three hits, including a double, and an RBI. In all, the top-five in the UT line-up accounted for 13 of the 18 safeties in the game.
 
In the nightcap, the Trailblazers erased a 2-0 first inning deficit with a two-run Hughbanks second inning double to tie the game at 2-2. 
 
Unfortunately for Utah Tech the game did not stay tied long as the Lopes scored eight unanswered runs over their next three offensive frames, culminating with a three-run Annie Villalobos three-run home run in the fifth that ended the game. 
 
Utah Tech will look to salvage the series finale on Saturday afternoon starting at 1 p.m. (MT).