Riverside—The UC Riverside Softball Team swept a double header against Long Beach State Saturday afternoon, for just the second time in the program's 16-year Big West Conference history, taking the first game, 5-1, and the night cap, 10-2 in five innings. The Highlanders are now 5-3 against the Beach over the last three seasons.
The sweep moved UC Riverside into a tie for fifth in the Big West, just a half game back of second place Cal Poly, CSUN and UC Santa Barbara.
UC Riverside 5, Long Beach State 1
Haley Marschall (7-7) tossed a complete-game, five-hitter in game one, picking up her seventh win of the year in the process.
The Manhattan Beach, California native didn't allow a hit in the first two innings, and retired the first two batters in the third, but the Beach sandwiched two singles around a walk to take a 1-0 lead. That was the last run Long Beach State would score, though, as Marschall allowed just one 49ers runner to get into scoring position the rest of the way.
Marschall's teammates tied the score in the bottom of the third with a little two-out magic of their own. Maddie Richard lifted a bloop to shallow left that went off the top of shortstop Nichole Fry's glove, and bounced towards the left field line. By the time the 49ers (20-25-1, 8-8) tracked the ball down, Richard was standing on second with a double. A wild pitch moved Richard over to third, and Jenna Curtan laced a double to center to make it a 1-1 ballgame.
The Highlanders (25-22, 7-9) put the game out of reach in the very next inning, thanks in part to a Long Beach State defensive miscue. Danielle Ortega and Jenae Lockwood led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Two batters later, Hannah Rodriguez laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the throw from first baseman Julia Lombardi was off the mark, allowing Rodriguez to reach safely and Ortega to score all the way from second.
Brittney Garcia then ripped a double to left which plated Lockwood and Rodriguez to give UC Riverside a 4-1 lead. Haley Harris singled to center to put runners on the corners, and Richard beat out an infield single to put the Highlanders up four for their final margin of victory.
UC Riverside 10, Long Beach State 2 (5 inn)
The Highlanders' offense didn't waste any time in jumping on top in game number two, scoring single runs in the first and second, and putting a five-spot on the board in the bottom of the third.
Long Beach State (20-27-1, 8-9) scored two runs in the top of the fourth, but UC Riverside (26-22, 8-9) countered with three in their half of the inning, putting the game in "run-ahead rule" territory at 10-2.
Rebecca Faulkner, who came on in relief of Tayler Misfeldt (12-6) in the fourth, tossed a scoreless top of the fifth to secure the victory. For Misfeldt, it was the 37th win over her career, inching her to within three of Tracey Webber's UC Riverside career record of 40.
Jenna Curtan, Jenae Lockwood, Chelsey Holley, Hannah Rodriguez, and Brittney Garcia banged out two hits apiece in the game, and Garcia scored a career-high tying three runs.
The Highlanders and 49ers finish their three-game Big West Conference series on Sunday beginning at 1 pm PT.
