Softball Travels To San Antonio For UTSA Tournament Starting Friday

Friday, February 26

San Antonio, TX

2:00 PM

UC Riverside

North Texas

Softball Travels To San Antonio For UTSA Tournament Starting Friday

2/23/2010 10:38:42 AM | Softball

The UC Riverside softball team travels to San Antonio, TX for five games this weekend starting on Friday, Feb. 26.

The Highlanders will face North Texas on Friday at 2:00 pm, on Saturday at 1:00 pm, and again on Sunday at 9:00 am. UCR faces the host team, UT San Antonio, on Friday at 4:00 pm and on Saturday at 9:00 am.

Live stats for all the games may be found here, and live audio of UCR's games against UTSA may be found here.

Highlanders vs UTSA and North Texas Game Capsules
	UC Riverside	UTSA	North Texas
2009 Record & stats	18-32	29-29	26-28
2010 Record & stats	2-6	2-8	2-4
	2010 Schedule	2010 Schedule	2010 Schedule
	2010 Roster	2010 Roster	2010 Roster
Conference	Big West	Southland	Sun Belt
Current Streak	L 4	L 8	L 2
Last Box Score	L, 10-2 (5) vs. Fresno State	L, 9-0 vs. Iowa State	L, 5-3 vs. Buffalo
Next Opponent	3/3 vs. UCLA	3/2 vs. Texas A&M	3/1 vs. Texas Tech
Top Hitter	Brittany Keeney Sophomore .375 avg	Caitlyn Ivy Sophomore .355 avg	Jennifer Smith Junior .500 avg
Top Pitcher	Amy Lwin Sophomore 4.85 ERA	Emily Humpal Junior 6.04 ERA	Kayla Lawson Senior 0.00 ERA
All-Time Record Against		First Meeting	First Meeting
Current Streak Against		N/A	N/A

Projected Highlander Lineup
(By Position)
Pos	#	Name	Yr	B/T	Avg	OBP	SLG	H	RBI
C	6	Alexis Pickett	Fr	L/R	.300	.300	.400	3	1
1B	9	Brittany Keeney	So	R/R	.375	.385	.625	9	11
2B	8	Taylor Thomas	Jr	R/R	.300	.391	.300	6	4
SS	1	Kameryn Hebenton	Jr	R/R	.375	.444	.458	9	1
3B	11	Brooke Hebenton	Jr	R/R	.176	.176	.176	3	0
LF	5	Alexis Villamor	Fr	R/R	.400	.455	.400	4	0
CF	7	Ariel Shore	Fr	L/R	.381	.435	.381	8	0
RF	3	Tiana Towns	Sr	R/R	.214	.214	.214	3	0
DP	12	Marissa Alvidrez	Sr	R/R	.333	.429	.500	6	2

GAME NOTES
GETTING HIT UP
Two Highlanders are currently tallying more hits than games played through the first two weeks of the 2010 season. Freshman Ariel Shore has eight hits through seven games, and sophomore Brittany Keeney (pictured) has nine hits through eight games. There have only been two players in UCR Division I history to record more than a hit per game: Marissa Alvidrez blasted 64 hits in 54 games back in 2008, and Melissa Sanchez had 50 hits in 44 games in 2006.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
As a team, the Highlanders are leading the conference in batting average (.284) and doubles (10), while individually, Keeney is tied for first with 11 RBI and Shore is tied for first with five stolen bases.

RBI QUEEN
In the first two weeks of the season, Keeney has tallied 11 RBI, just six shy of her 2009 total.

EIGHT RUN RULE
Through eight games in the 2010 season, UCR has already played three contests that have gone five innings due to the eight-run rule. Last season, the Highlanders had just four games that were played in seven innings or less due to the rule.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UC Riverside utility player Brittany Keeney earned her first-ever Big West Conference Softball Player of the Week award as announced on Monday, Feb. 15 by the Big West office. Keeney helped the Highlanders to a 2-2 opening weekend with wins against Boise State and San Diego.

For the week she batted .500 and posted a .857 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage. She totaled one run, seven hits, 11 RBI, one walk, two doubles, and one home run for the week, while committing zero errors in the field.

RECORD SETTERS
Last season UC Riverside won its sixth conference game of the year on April 19, 2009 against UC Davis, and with that win, the Highlanders set a new school mark for most conference victories. With five Big West wins in 2008, UCR tied the previous school record for conference wins in a season originally set back in 2002. The Highlanders finished the 2009 season with seven Big West wins.

UCR Top 3 Big West Winning Percentages

	W	L	Pct
2009	7	14	.333
2008	5	16	.238
2002	5	19	.208

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Highlanders are set to play 17 games in 2010 against teams that reached the 2009 NCAA Tournament, with six of those teams currently ranked or receiving votes in the latest national polls.

NEW FACES IN THE DUGOUT
UCR brought in six freshmen and one junior college transfer to compliment the 13 returners from a year ago. Four of those freshmen, Alexis Villamor, Alexis Pickett, Kayla White, and Ariel Shore, have already seen time in the Highlanders lineup.

COACHING CHANGES
During the off-season, UC Riverside Head Coach Connie Miner announced two additions to the coaching staff for the 2010 season. Former Utah State head coach Candi Letts joined the Highlanders staff as first assistant, while former Long Beach State undergraduate assistant coach Franny Morlet was hired as the second assistant.

ALL-BIG WEST
The UC Riverside softball team placed two players on the 2009 All-Big West Honorable Mention Team. Alvidrez was named as a designated player, while Keeney was named as an outfielder.

With this award, Alvidrez earned her third Honorable Mention accolade of her career and fifth All-Conference award overall. The Bakersfield, CA native was named to the First-Team and Second-Team for two different positions in 2008, and named to the Honorable Mention Team in 2007 as both the designated and utility player. The junior batted .247 during the 2009 campaign, leading the team with six home runs and a .452 slugging percentage.

Keeney earned her first Big West All-Conference award, one of just six freshmen in the Big West to earn a spot on the All-Conference Teams. The Canyon Lake, CA native was one of just four UCR softball players to play in and start every contest on the year, while leading the team in hits (42) and total bases (62) and finishing second on the squad in triples, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, runs, and RBI.