Friday, March 26
Davis, CA
3:00 PM
University of California, Riverside
vs
Saint Mary's
Photo by: Bobby R. Hester, (c) 2009
Softball Heads To Aggie Stampede For Final Non-Conference Tournament
3/24/2010 8:46:46 AM | Softball
The UC Riverside softball team heads north to the UC Davis Aggie Stampede for five games from Mar. 26-28. The Highlanders open with a 3:00 pm game against Saint Mary's on Friday, then play Sacramento State and #13 California at 9:00 am and 1:15 pm respectively on Saturday. UCR concludes the tournament with games against Saint Mary's (10:00 am) and Sacramento State (12:30 pm) on Sunday. Tournament Page
GAME NOTES
I'LL RACE YOU
The Highlanders picked up their 14th win of the season on Mar. 23 with a 7-3 victory over Utah, marking the second-fastest pace to 14 wins in UCR Division I history.
GONE STREAKING
UCR has won five straight games from Mar. 14-23—the longest such streak of the season, and the longest in the Highlanders Division I history.
BLEEDING CRIMSON
The Highlanders defeated the Harvard Crimson 11-1 in five innings on Mar. 14 for their first win in five since a 14-6 defeat of Longwood on Mar. 13, 2009. The 11 runs scored is the most runs UCR has scored all season and the most since they scored 14 against Longwood in 2009.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Freshman Ariel Shore currently paces the Big West Conference with 14 stolen bases and 15 attempts. Her 14 stolen bases are tied for second in UCR Division I history for most single-season stolen bases, and place her sixth all-time in single-season stolen bases.
DID U C L A LOSE?
The Highlanders upset the No. 5 team in the nation on March 3 with their 3-2 victory over UCLA. That win marked the first victory over a ranked opponent in the program's Division I history.
GETTING IT DONE FROM THE CIRCLE AND THE BOX
Marissa Alvidrez pitched a complete game and picked up the win for the Highlanders in their 3-2 upset of #5 UCLA on Mar. 3. She also drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third inning to lift UCR to victory.
WINNING ON THE MOUND
Pitcher Marissa Alvidrez already has nine wins to her credit in the 2010 season. Last year, she totaled seven wins, and had four in 2008. Alvidrez has also been the winning pitcher in nine of the team's 15 victories so far this season, and she already inserted herself into the top-5 for single-season wins in UCR's DI history.
Most Wins, UCR D1 Single-Season
EXTRA INNINGS
The Highlanders are 1-1 on the year in games that have gone into extra frames, as they defeated UTSA 7-6 in eight innings on Feb. 26 but fell to Northern Illinois 8-7 in eight innings on Mar. 14. Last season, UCR went 4-2 in games that went past seven innings.
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
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Highlanders play 17 games in 2010 against teams that reached the 2009 NCAA Tournament, with eight 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.
| Highlanders at Aggie Stampede Game Capsules | |||||||||
| UC Riverside |
Saint Mary's |
Sac State |
#13 California |
||||||
| 2009 Record & stats |
18-32 |
25-28 |
28-23 |
38-20 |
|||||
| 2010 Record & stats |
14-14 | 11-12 | 8-19 |
23-6 |
|||||
| 2010 Schedule |
2010 Schedule |
2010 Schedule |
2010 Schedule |
||||||
| 2010 Roster |
2010 Roster |
2010 Roster |
2010 Roster |
||||||
| Conference | Big West |
PCSC | PCSC | PAC-10 |
|||||
| Current Streak | W 5 |
L 4 | W 1 |
W 1 |
|||||
| Last Box Score |
W, 7-3 vs. Utah |
L, 3-2 at Stanford |
W, 3-0 vs. Utah St. |
W, 5-1 at Hawaii |
|||||
| Next Opponent | 4/2 at Cal Poly |
4/10 vs. San Diego |
3/30 vs. Boise St. |
4/1 at Stanford |
|||||
| Top Hitter |  Shore Freshman .324 avg. |
 Mounts Sophomore .361 avg. |
 Beltran Sophomore .462 avg. |
 Reed Sophomore .424 avg. |
|||||
| Top Pitcher |  Alvidrez Senior 4.43 ERA |
 Linton Sophomore 3.24 ERA |
 Voelz Sophomore 3.53 ERA |
 Henderson Freshman 0.79 ERA |
|||||
| D1 Record Against | 4-6 | 4-5 | 0-4 |
||||||
| D1 Current Streak Against | L 4 |
L 2 |
L 4 |
||||||
| Projected Highlander Lineup | |||||||||
| (By Position) | |||||||||
| Pos | # | Name | Yr | B/T | Avg | OBP | SLG | H | RBI |
| C | 6 |
Alexis Pickett |
Fr |
L/R |
.288 |
.373 |
.481 |
15 |
11 |
| 1B | 9 |
Brittany Keeney |
So |
R/R | .299 | .368 | .532 | 23 |
23 |
| 2B | 8 |
Taylor Thomas |
Jr |
R/R |
.286 |
.371 |
.364 |
22 |
16 |
| SS | 1 |
Kameryn Hebenton |
Jr |
R/R |
.274 |
.357 |
.310 |
23 |
5 |
| 3B | 11 |
Brooke Hebenton |
Jr |
R/R |
.193 |
.281 |
.298 |
11 |
6 |
| LF | 5 |
Alexis Villamor |
Fr |
R/R |
.300 | .327 | .380 | 15 |
8 |
| CF | 4 |
Kayla White |
Fr |
R/R |
.222 | .288 | .333 | 12 |
3 |
| RF | 7 |
Ariel Shore | Fr |
R/R |
.324 |
.375 |
.338 |
24 |
1 |
| DP | 12 | Marissa Alvidrez | Sr | R/R | .246 |
.386 |
.456 |
14 |
11 |
GAME NOTES
I'LL RACE YOU
The Highlanders picked up their 14th win of the season on Mar. 23 with a 7-3 victory over Utah, marking the second-fastest pace to 14 wins in UCR Division I history.
GONE STREAKING
UCR has won five straight games from Mar. 14-23—the longest such streak of the season, and the longest in the Highlanders Division I history.
BLEEDING CRIMSON
The Highlanders defeated the Harvard Crimson 11-1 in five innings on Mar. 14 for their first win in five since a 14-6 defeat of Longwood on Mar. 13, 2009. The 11 runs scored is the most runs UCR has scored all season and the most since they scored 14 against Longwood in 2009.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Freshman Ariel Shore currently paces the Big West Conference with 14 stolen bases and 15 attempts. Her 14 stolen bases are tied for second in UCR Division I history for most single-season stolen bases, and place her sixth all-time in single-season stolen bases.
DID U C L A LOSE?
The Highlanders upset the No. 5 team in the nation on March 3 with their 3-2 victory over UCLA. That win marked the first victory over a ranked opponent in the program's Division I history.
GETTING IT DONE FROM THE CIRCLE AND THE BOX
Marissa Alvidrez pitched a complete game and picked up the win for the Highlanders in their 3-2 upset of #5 UCLA on Mar. 3. She also drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third inning to lift UCR to victory.
WINNING ON THE MOUND
Pitcher Marissa Alvidrez already has nine wins to her credit in the 2010 season. Last year, she totaled seven wins, and had four in 2008. Alvidrez has also been the winning pitcher in nine of the team's 15 victories so far this season, and she already inserted herself into the top-5 for single-season wins in UCR's DI history.
Most Wins, UCR D1 Single-Season
| Player | Year | W | |
| 1. | Stephanie Marshall | 2006 | 13 |
| 2. | Christin Songer | 2008 | 10 |
| 3. | Christin Songer | 2007 | 9 |
| Marissa Alvidrez | 2010 | 9 |
EXTRA INNINGS
The Highlanders are 1-1 on the year in games that have gone into extra frames, as they defeated UTSA 7-6 in eight innings on Feb. 26 but fell to Northern Illinois 8-7 in eight innings on Mar. 14. Last season, UCR went 4-2 in games that went past seven innings.
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 play 17 games in 2010 against teams that reached the 2009 NCAA Tournament, with eight 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.
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