Fresno, CA—The UC Riverside Softball Team continues its early season tournament play in the Fresno State Kickoff beginning Friday, Feb. 13, hosted by Fresno State.
UCR is 3-2 after the start of its regular season at the Kajikawa Classic, hosted by Arizona State. The Highlanders took down Western Michigan, Seattle, and San Jose State.
Chelsea Ponce leads the pitching staff with a 3-1 record 0.61 era. She pitched 23 innings in the Highlanders opening weekend, including a one-hitter and nine strike outs in a 1-0 loss to Pacific in eight innings. Ponce has already struck out 25 batters, 13 of those occurred in a 3-1 victory over Seattle, snapping the previous UC Riverside single-game record of 11, held by Stephanie Marshall.
UCR concluded last season with an overall record, 23-31, for the second most wins in the program's Division I history.
The Highlanders will take on the host team Fresno State in their first of five games over the weekend. They will close out the tournament against California Sunday, Feb. 15.
Fresno State enters Friday's game with a record of 4-1 after participating in the Kajikawa Classic. The Bulldogs only loss over the weekend was to Ole Miss, as they took down Fordham, Portland State, CSUN, and San Diego.
UCR finished 3-2 last year at the Fresno State Kickoff, beating Bakersfield, Southern Utah, and splitting with Sacramento State. The Highlanders one other loss was to Fresno State.
GAME NOTESAND THEY'RE OFFThe Highlanders are 3-2 through the first five games of the season. The last time UC Riverside had a better record through 5 games was the 2007 season when the Highlanders won 4.
FOR IT'S 1, 2, 3 STRIKES YOU'RE OUTFive games into the 2015 season and Chelsea Ponce is already etching her name in the UCR softball record books, recording the most strike outs in a single game in the program's Division I-era. In the Highlanders 3-1 victory over Seattle on Feb. 8, 2015, Ponce threw all seven frames, recording 13 strike outs and passing the previous single-game record of 11 held by Stephanie Marshall.
She also ties with three other Highlanders, throwing nine strikeouts in UCR's first game of the season.
| Single-Game Strikouts |
| Strikouts | Player | Game | Date |
| 13 | Chelsea Ponce | Seattle | February 8, 2015 |
| 11 | Stephanie Marshall | @ UC Davis | April 9, 2006 |
| 10 | Christin Songer | Pacific | April 12, 2008 |
| 10 | Jordyn McDonald | CSU Bakersfield | March 28, 2012 |
| 9 | Marissa Alvidrez | Southern Illinois | February, 7, 2009 |
| 9 | Stephanie Marshall | San Jose State | February 10, 2007 |
| 9 | Alyssa Razo | vs. Southern Utah | February 16, 2014 |
| 9 | Chelsea Ponce | Pacific | February 6, 2015 |
SEASONED VETERANSUC Riverside will list seven seniors on the roster this season. Alyssa Razo comes back as the Highlanders' top-returning pitcher, finishing out the 2014 season with a 3.35 ERA and an overall record of 13-17.
Karina Romero notched a spot in the top-3 on the team in batting average hitting .299, runs, hits, RBI, walks, sac bunts, stolen bases, at bats, and games played. She was one of only three Highlanders to start and play in every game of the 2014 season.
The seniors will be looked to for their leadership throughout the season, with a roster listing 22 players including five freshmen.
ROUND TWOThe Highlanders will return some key sophomore players this season as well. Both Stephanie Tickemyer and Haley Harris hit grand slams their freshman year, each in a different game. Tickeymer closed out her first year as a Highlander third on the team in runs scored. At the end of the 2014 season, Harris ranked at the top of the conference in sac flies (30th nationally) and tied for second in sac bunts. She led the Highlanders in RBIs with 31, sac flies, sac bunts, and finished third in stolen bases.
CATCH ME IF YOU CANThe Highlanders stole 90 bases during the 2013 season, setting the program Division I record in the process. UCR ended the season ranked 28th in the nation in stolen bases per game, with graduated senior Ariel Shore ranking 58th individually in that category, and Dionne Anderson ranking 77th.
In 2014, Anderson set the program's Division I mark for most stolen bases in a single-season when she stole her 27th base in just the 27th game of the year on March 12 against Fairleigh Dickinson. She also topped Shore as the program's Division I leader in career stolen bases, and finishing her career with 86. The all-time program record for career stolen bases is 107, set by Deanna Dresman from 1988-91.
The Highlanders now recorded 77 stolen bases in 51 games, with Anderson's 47 leading the team. Anderson also ranked second in the nation in that category, while the team was 35th.
Anderson also broke the Big West Conference single-season record for stolen bases, and is second on the all-time league charts for career stolen bases.
BREAKING RECORDSUCR finished the 2012 season with a 25-28 overall record, setting a program Division I mark for most wins in a season and for best winning percentage. The Highlanders notched 23 wins in 2014, giving them the second-most wins in the program's Division I era.
| Best Winning Pct. (DI) |
| .472 | 2012 |
| .449 | 2006 |
| .426 | 2014 |
| Most Wins (DI) |
| 25 x | 2012 |
| 23 | 2014 |
| 22 | 2006 |
| 22 | 2010 |
TAKENThe Highlanders won their first Big West series of the 2014 season April 12-13 at Cal State Fullerton by taking two of three games—the first series win since April 27-28, 2013 against Cal Poly.
THE 19TH HOLEUCR's 19 wins in 2014 heading into Big West Conference play are the most in the team's Division I history.
GRAND SLAM BREAKFASTHaley Harris belted a walk-off grand slam to give the Highlanders a 6-5 win over Dartmouth on March 20. It was the second grand slam for UCR in 2014, and the first walk-off win for UC Riverside since a 7-5 win on February 24, 2013 against Weber State.
COMEBACK KIDSIn 11 of UC Riverside's 22 wins in 2014, the team rallied back from deficits for the victory.
| Date | Opponent | Deficit | Final Score |
| Feb. 14 | Bakersfield | 2 runs | 5-3 |
| Feb. 15 | Southern Utah | 2 runs | 5-2 |
| Feb. 22 | Bakersfield | 8 runs | 15-10 |
| Feb. 27 | Sacred Heart | 4 runs | 6-5 |
| Mar. 6 | Belmont | 5 runs | 6-5 |
| Mar. 9 | Utah State | 6 runs | 8-6 |
| Mar. 12 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 1 run | 6-2 |
| Mar. 12 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 2 runs | 4-2 |
| Mar. 20 | Dartmouth | 4 runs | 6-5 |
| Mar. 21 | Canisius | 1 run | 11-1 |
| Mar. 22 | Loyola Marymount | 3 runs | 9-7 |
26.2The Highlanders lost a 10-inning, three hour 29 minute marathon on March 3, 2014 against Loyola Chicago. It is the most innings played for UCR since an 11-inning affair at Cal State Northridge on May 8, 2011.
DOUBLE-DIGIT AFFAIRSUCR scored 15 runs in a 15-10 win over Bakersfield on February 22, 2014—the most runs scored since a 16-run outburst against Eastern Kentucky on March 7, 2012. The Highlanders also recorded season-highs of 15 hits on two occasions (Feb. 8, 2014 vs. New Mexico and Mar. 22, 2014 at Loyola Marymount), the most since banging out 16 vs Idaho State on March 4, 2011.
SHUT THE FRONT DOORThe Highlanders shut out Sacramento State, 1-0, on February 16, 2014—the team's first shutout since an 8-0 victory over Cal Poly on April 27, 2013. UCR now has four shutouts on the year. The program Division I record for most shutouts in a season in seven, set in 2008.
Conversely, the Highlanders were shut out nine times last season, including back-to-back games at Long Beach State on April 5, 2014.
FAST FIVEUC Riverside won five games in a row from March 12-21 for the first time since a six-game win streak from March 10-13, 2013. That six-game streak is the longest in the program's Division I history.
STOP, THIEF!UCR stole nine bases against Southern Utah on March 11, 2013, setting the program's Division I record for most stolen bases in a single game. Dionne Anderson added her name to the UCR record books as she stole four bases that game—the most in a single game in the program's DI history.
TERESTRIAL LOCOMOTIONNine of UC Riverside's 2013 opponents scored 10 or more runs, which is four more than the 2012 total, and the most in the team's Division I history. Last season, UCR gave up 10 or more runs five times, including a season-high 15 to Long Beach State on April 6.
THE END OF AN ERAUCR's pitching corps had a 5.04 ERA during the 2013 season, making it the third-highest ERA in program DI history (5.60, 2011; 5.07, 2003). Last season, the Highlanders ERA was down to 3.99.
ALL-BIG WESTUC Riverside placed one player on the Big West All-Conference Team last season, with outfielder Dionne Anderson earning a All-Big West First-Team award. She was the fourth Highlander to earn first-team honor since UCR joined the BIg West. Andersron led UC Riverside in multiple catagories during the 2014 season, including hitting a team-best .386 while slugging .494 with an on-base percentage of .505. She tallied 61 hits while scoring 34 times, and driving in 17. The outfielder also broke the program and Big West single-season records for stolen bases, finishing the year at 47, and is second all-time on the Big West career steals chart. She closed out the season second in the nation in stolen bases.
