Softball Readies For Three Ranked Opponents In Upcoming Campbell/Cartier Classic

Friday, February 15

San Diego, CA

3:45 pm

UC Riverside

Oklahoma (#1)

Photo by: Lorie Shore

Softball Readies For Three Ranked Opponents In Upcoming Campbell/Cartier Classic

2/13/2013 11:29:00 AM | Softball

San Diego, CA—The UC Riverside Softball Team travels south to the Campbell/Cartier Classic hosted by San Diego State for four games beginning on Friday, February 15. The Highlanders will face three ranked opponents during the tournament, starting off with Oklahoma—currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll—on Friday at 3:45 pm. On Saturday, UCR squares off against Kentucky, ranked #22 in the country, at 9 am. On Sunday, #16 Washington is the opponent at 11:15 am, and the tournament concludes with a 1:30 pm game against the host Aztecs.

The Highlanders are coming off of a 2-3 weekend at the Fresno State Kickoff Tournament, earning victories against Southern Miss (box score/recap) and Sacramento State (box score/recap).

Oklahoma earned the No. 1 ranking in the nation following a 5-0 start to the 2013 campaign. The last time UC Riverside faced the top-ranked team in the country was last season in a 10-0 loss at #1 Cal. The Sooners have won both previous meetings between the clubs.

Kentucky is 4-2 entering the weekend and sits at #22 and 24 in the national polls. The Highlanders are 1-0 against the Wildcats in the team's Division I history.

Washington is also 4-2 in 2013 and is ranked No. 16/18 in the country. The Huskies are 2-0 against UCR since 2002.

San Diego State is 3-2 entering Friday and has won the last three games against UC Riverside.

Highlanders at Campbell/Cartier Classic Game Capsules
	UC Riverside	#1 Oklahoma	#22 Kentucky	#16 Washington	San Diego State
2013 Record & Stats	2-3	5-0	4-2	4-2	3-2
	Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster
	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule
Conference	Big West	Big 12	SEC	PAC 12	Mountain West
Current Streak	L 2	W 5	W1	W2	L1
Most Recent Box Score	L, 5-3 vs UTEP	W, 7-4 vs Northwestern	W, 3-1 vs Stanford	W, 3-1 vs Hawaii	L, 3-2 vs Arizona
Next Opponent	2/22 vs San Diego	2/21 vs Georgia	2/22 vs Presbyterian	2/21 vs Virginia	2/14 vs Kentucky
Top Hitter	Marissa Escalante Freshman .500 BA	Callie Parsons Sophmore .667 BA	Nikki Sagermann Freshman .429 BA	Hooch Fagaly Junior .588 BA	Kamerin May Senior .471 BA
Top Pitcher	Alyssa Razo Sophomore 1.56 ERA 2-0 Record	Michelle Gascoiqne Senior 1.14 ERA 2-0 Record	Lauren Cumbess Junior 2.50 ERA 1-1 Record	Bryanna Walker Junior 1.88 ERA 2-1 Record	Rebecca Arbino RS Senior 1.27 ERA 3-1 Record
DI Record vs.		0-2	1-0	0-2	1-3
DI Current Streak vs.		L 2	W 1	L 2	L 3

Projected Highlanders Lineup
(By Position)
Pos	#	Name	Yr	B/T	Avg	OBP	SLG	H	RBI
C	20	Natalie Sanchez	Fr.	R/R	.231	.375	.308	3	0
1B	17	Marissa Escalante	Fr.	R/R	.500	.643	.600	5	2
2B	3	Meagan Esteban	Fr.	L/R	.167	.167	.167	2	2
3B	16	Brittanie Akey	Fr.	R/R	.143	.250	.143	2	2
SS	11	Nicolette Lujan	So.	R/R	.111	.273	.111	1	0
RF	19	Dionne Anderson	Jr.	L/R	.250	.333	.250	3	2
CF	4	Kayla White	Sr.	R/R	.389	.421	.611	7	2
LF	7	Ariel Shore	Sr.	L/R	.176	.263	.294	3	0
DP	9	Ashley Ercolano	Fr.	R/R	.308	.471	.385	4	4

GAME NOTES
OFF TO THE RACES
The Highlanders won their 2013 season opener against Southern Miss on February 8—the first season-opening victory since 2007.

ERROR MESSAGE
UC Riverside committed five errors in its loss against Fresno State on Feb. 8, the most since April 16, 2011 when the Highlanders recorded six errors.

BREAKING RECORDS
UCR finished the 2012 season with a 25-28 overall record, setting a new program Division I mark for most wins in a season and for best winning percentage.

Best Winning Pct. (DI)
.472	2012
.449	2006
.407	2010

Most Wins (DI)
25 x	2012
22	2006
22	2010

BRINGING OUT THE BROOMS
The Highlanders sweep of Cal State Northridge on May 5-6, 2012 was the first such sweep over the Matadors in the team's Division I history. The sweep was also the first for UCR in conference play since taking a three-game series from Sacramento State on May 4-5, 2002.

SHOWING NO MERCY
UCR won six games last year by the eight-run mercy-rule—the most times in the program's DI history. This season, they’ve already won one game by the mercy rule.

BATTER UP
UCR finished the 2012 season with a team batting average of .281— the highest single-season average in the team's Division I history, besting the 2011 squad with a .276 batting average.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
The Highlanders stole 73 bases in 2012, 10 more than the program's previous DI record of 63 set in 2011. UCR already has 11 stolen bases in 2013.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
The Highlanders won 13 games in 2011, but nearly doubled that win total in 2012 with 25 victories.

OFF THE CHARTS
UC Riverside's 16 runs against Eastern Kentucky on March 7, 2012 are the most in the Division I history of the program for a single-game total. The previous high was 15, set at Utah State on May 3, 2003.

CONFERENCE DIVAS
The Highlanders led the Big West Conference last season in triples, stolen bases, and steal attempts while ranking second in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, and RBI. On the national scale, UC Riverside ranked 12th in double plays per game and 44th in both triples per game and stolen bases per game.

COACHING CHANGES
UC Riverside welcomes an entirely new coaching staff to the dugout in 2013. Head Coach Linda Garza was hired in June to lead the program, and named Jodie Cox and Chez Sievers as assistant coaches and Morgan Stuart as a volunteer coach.

ALL-BIG WEST
Four UC Riverside players were selected to the Big West All-Conference Team last season, with outfielder Kayla White garnering All-Big West First-Team awards while Alexis Pickett was selected to the Second Team, and Ariel Shore and Kaylie Atkinson both received Honorable Mention accolades.